Samsung has been working with youngsters around India for a very long time. It’s not just about presenting the latest and greatest devices; the company has always involved youngsters when it comes to research and development. One of the big initiatives for the company has been Solve for Tomorrow, which welcomes a culture of innovative thinking and problem-solving amongst the country’s youth.
For Solve for Tomorrow, Samsung has partnered with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology’s Startup Hub and Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi. The top three winners this year will win Rs 1.5 crore to turn their ideas into action while other participants who reach top 30 and top 10 will be rewarded at various stages of the programme.
As the second season of the innovative venture is underway, we asked the winners of the first season about where they are with their projects. The first season of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow received over 18,000 registrations from across the country. All three winning teams of season one have incorporated their companies.
Team Udaan
The project....
Prisha Dubey, Anupriya Nayak and Vanalika Konwar are trying to solve a big challenge in menstrual health. They are developing eco-friendly, affordable, and washable sanitary pads using shredded sugarcane bagasse produced in sugar factories that will be extremely affordable compared to current offerings in the market. The trio want to eliminate the social stigma around menstruation and reach out to underprivileged and rural women with their product.
Life-changing experience….
Life has never been the same since winning Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow. We are grateful for receiving so much positive attention which we aspire to channelise into empowering women, spreading awareness, and improving menstrual health in India. As part of the reward, we received from the programme, we are undergoing a six-month incubation under FITT-IIT Delhi to help our project which has boosted our confidence that we’ll be able to get the product out in the market soon.
Dream come true....
When we began our project, we were extremely passionate about it but did not have a clear direction to translate our dream into reality. We devoted many hours and days in extensive research to enrich our knowledge and awareness on the crucial topic of menstrual health. But something was still amiss, as we did not know how to get real-world working of our idea. I feel Solve for Tomorrow really helped with that. We met a lot of different people during our experience; we met inspiring people and our mentors who were extremely dedicated in helping us and could see a future in our idea.
After Solve for Tomorrow, we recently incorporated our company Menstrumate Pvt. Ltd. We are working on research papers and holding workshops in the summer with underprivileged girls at ‘Amitasha’ programme of our school Amity International School, Saket.
Help from Samsung….
When we visited Samsung’s R&D Offices as part of Solve for Tomorrow, it was a very novel and unique experience. We had never visited a corporate workspace and had never imagined seeing the working of such a reputed and large company. At the Samsung office, we learnt a lot about the wide range of technologies and could understand the extensive research and planning that goes behind each product. The Samsung team we worked with had extreme expertise, and without them and their mentorship, we would not have made it this far to win.
Team Alpha Monitor
Team Alpha Monitor
The project….
Hemesh Chadalavada has developed a smart wristband to monitor Alzheimer’s patients and alert their caregivers about changes in their behaviour. The device monitors the patient’s health parameters such as pulse and blood pressure and the caregiver and doctor are automatically alerted if the patient gets out of bed and starts wandering.
Solve for Tomorrow can change life….
Solve for Tomorrow was a transformative experience for me. Winning the competition has opened countless doors. Only months after winning SFT 2022, I registered my company TinkerFactory Industries Pvt Ltd, thanks to the credibility Samsung and FITT, IIT Delhi, gave me. Further, the programme provided mentorship, networking opportunities, and a sense of community. Right now, I am gearing up to make my device available to the elderly and their caregivers. I will eventually transform my company into an innovation-based engineering hub that focuses on creating technology that helps people and the communities around us.
A personal project….
My project is very close to my heart as I got the inspiration for it after seeing my grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s. I had made a few prototypes and approached some companies but to no avail. Ultimately, SFT happened. The most significant change was in terms of my device’s design and technology. During the SFT bootcamp with FITT, IIT Delhi, I realised I needed a compact design that was easy to scale to reach as many caregivers as possible.
Working with Samsung….
Working closely with Samsung experts and engineers helped me understand the fundamentals of purposeful innovation. I have learned how our ideas might be big, but their impact becomes real only when it reaches the people. My interactions with young engineers and designers at Samsung factories, R&D centres, and design studios contributed a lot towards bringing my idea to reality. I learned how to develop my device so it’s easy to produce it on a larger scale and reach as many people as possible.
Raising funds....
I am currently working with T-Works, India’s largest prototyping centre. I get to use all their equipment and technology for free. I am utilising a lot of funding to develop the product, optimise it, and devise models that can monitor the patients efficiently. I am currently focused on utilising the funds for R&D and product testing.
Team Sputnik Brain with officials
Team Sputnik Brain
The project….
Shankar Srinivasan wants to alleviate stress. His safe ‘brain modulation’ wearable device for mental health transmits waves within FDA’s limit of frequency, intensity, and Pulse Repetition Period to mood centres in the brain. Considering stress causes high blood pressure, hypertension and other issues, Shankar decided to work on an innovation to reduce stress.
Solve for Tomorrow, a milestone….
When I applied for SFT 2022, I couldn’t imagine I could win the competition and would be able to present my innovation to pioneers in technology. My innovation for stress alleviation and democratising happiness biologically through neurotechnology has achieved incredible traction and interest from numerous investors worldwide along with being selected for a prestigious grant and fellowship from Emergent Ventures of Mercatus Centre, a Thiel Foundation-supported organisation, funding me recently. In addition to Samsung’s exceptional support, expert mentorship, and grant money, I am glad to have received tremendous exposure and guidance at each step of the competition. In fact, one of the reasons why anybody should apply for the current and forthcoming editions of Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow is because the environment ignites unparalleled progress within a short span of time. Every effort is acknowledged, every challenge comes with great learnings, and every hurdle breaks your limitations and gets you one step closer to success. For me, SFT 2022 was the epitome of a healthy competition, where all the teams supported each other.
Refining the project….
When I started, my focus was only on alleviating stress through neurotechnology and brain modulation specifically, but as my team met milestones in development, and had the privilege of being mentored by prominent veterans from Samsung and IIT Delhi, the thesis of Sputnik Brain refined phenomenally. As we completed our second prototype in a wearable form, we leaped beyond just stress alleviation as a biological mechanism, along with clinical neuroscience counsel, the focus shifted to be able to give access to people towards non-surgically modulating the mood networks in the brain. Our mission refined from just stress alleviation to a comprehensive thesis of being able to democratise happiness biologically for the human species.
Raising funds….
As a deep-tech innovation, my innovation did face roadblocks as investors expect the innovator to already have things in place. However, my mentors from IIT Delhi and Samsung were catalysts to not just my innovation, but to me as an individual too, as they nourished me with the right technical mentorship as well as communication strategy while helping me overcome my inhibitions. SFT has been a springboard and guiding light for my innovation. Post SFT, I have received tremendous recognition through numerous MedTech accelerator programmes, and support from external investors, debentures, and grants apart from notable credibility. My incorporation is scheduled to close the next round of investment. I would like to distribute my product to universities and medical professionals initially to be able to benefit the medical community through the clinical efficacy, biomarker-driven scale and speed of the product. The ultimate goal is to make Sputnik Brain available largescale and democratise happiness for the entire human race.