The last few months saw an interesting competition unfold across the country — Solve for Tomorrow, an initiative by Samsung. Like the name suggests, it was about coming up with solutions that will help people in the future.

The competition took into account real-life issues and the three winning teams are Sputnik Brain, Udaan and Alpha Monitor who get a total grant of Rs 1 crore and a six-month incubation by the Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer, IIT Delhi, to strengthen their prototypes, and seek real-world consumer validation for their products and services.

There was no first, second or third place, for all the three teams are winners and they have come up with equally good solutions to real-life problems. In June, as part of its Solve for Tomorrow programme, Samsung invited 16-22 year-olds in India to come up with innovative ideas in the areas of education, environment, healthcare and agriculture, the priority UN Sustainable Development Goals for India. A record 18,000 plus registrations were received in the inaugural edition.

Let’s look at the three winning entries. Sputnik Brain’s Shankar Srinivasan is working on a wearable device that will help reduce stress by “productising pleasure through safe brain modulation”. His safe brain modulation wearable device for mental health transmits waves within the FDA’s limit of frequency, intensity, and Pulse Repetition Period to mood centres in the brain. Considering stress causes high blood pressure, hypertension and a host of other issues, the 22-year-old decided to work on an innovation to reduce stress.

The trio of Prisha Dubey, Anupriya Nayak and Vanalika Konwar of Udaan are from Port Blair and Delhi and they have developed eco-friendly, affordable and washable sanitary pads using shredded sugarcane bagasse. The all-girls team wants to solve the social stigma around menstruation and reach out to underprivileged and rural women with their product.

Hemesh Chadalavada of Alpha Monitor from Hyderabad has developed a smart wristband to monitor Alzheimer’s patients and alert their caregivers about changes in their behaviour. The 16-year-old’s 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.

“All the young Solvers are the future of India. They have the potential to change India and the world,” said Ken Kang, president and CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia. “The jury found it extremely tough to choose the top three winners as all the participants had brilliant ideas. We are delighted to support them in their future journey to unlock their full potential and strengthen our vision of powering digital India,” said Partha Ghosh, head, corporate social responsibility and communications, Samsung Southwest Asia.