Samsung Wins Twin Honours at the Nasscom Engineering & Innovation Excellence Awards

Wins ER&D Organization of the Year Award and the Social Impact Solution of the Year Award

Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore (SRI-B) won the ER&D Organization of the Year Award and the Social Impact Solution of the Year Award at the first edition of the NASSCOM Engineering & Innovation Excellence Awards in 2021.

The ER&D Organization of the Year Award recognizes Global Capability Centers (GCCs) that are making a significant contribution to the Global ER&D operations in terms of portfolio transformation, technical talent development, establishing a next-gen center of excellence, and innovation contribution.

SRI-B, which is Samsung’s largest R&D facility outside Korea, won this award for its “research to commercialization” approach across multiple product lines such as smartphones, networks, and connected home appliances.

As a patent powerhouse, SRI-B’s contributions for the flagship devices through the centers of excellence for Wireless Communications, Multimedia, AI, and IoT have also been acknowledged. The jury also recognized SRI-Bs university collaborations and start-up engagements.

The Social Impact Solution of the Year Award recognized the recently developed Eyelike Platform that is part of the Samsung Galaxy Upcycling Program Under this program, Samsung repurposes older smartphones into medical diagnosis cameras, helping underserved populations in Vietnam, India, Morocco, and Papua New Guinea.

SRI-B has researched and developed the software for the EyeLike application comprising Fundus image capture mechanism (AF and MF), On-Device AI, UX software development and also providing the server support.
The unique and affordable diagnosis camera can screen patients for conditions that may lead to blindness, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. EYELIKE is deployed in India through Aravind Eye Hospital and also across the globe in countries like Vietnam, Morocco, and Papua New Guinea.

Launched this year, the NASSCOM Engineering & Innovation Excellence Awards sought to provide a platform for the Indian ER&D community to showcase its exceptional capabilities to the world.

In 2021, SRI-B completed 25 successful years in India and reiterated its commitment to #PoweringDigitalIndia with a refreshed R&D strategy by engaging in cutting-edge research that will transform communities and make people’s lives better, while also promoting a strong ecosystem of startups and academia.

Set up in 1996, SRI-B has grown into an advanced R&D center for Samsung globally, with excellence in wireless communications, multimedia and image processing, artificial intelligence in vision, voice and text technologies, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Over the next five years, SRI-B to explore Multi-Device Intelligence, beyond 5G, Blockchain, and Data Science areas even as it continues to create strong differentiation for Samsung through innovations in camera technologies, artificial intelligence, and 5G.

SRI-B, which has created a strong culture of filing patents among its engineers over the last decade, will also expand Open Innovation with startups, students, and universities to help strengthen the innovation and startup ecosystem in the country.

It will drive this effort by scaling up its industry-academia program PRISM under which it has been working with engineering students and faculty on real-world research and development projects in cutting-edge technology areas. So far it has worked with close to 500 students in the country and some of these students have gone on to file patents along with Samsung engineers.