Samsung R&D Institute-India, Bengaluru (SRI-B) marked a special milestone this year with ‘Sarang’, its Annual Day celebration commemorating 30 years of innovation, growth and people. More than just an annual gathering, the event stood as a tribute to a remarkable journey shaped by vision, perseverance and purpose.

Long before Bengaluru became synonymous with technology and innovation, a small team of engineers began their journey in 1996 under Samsung India Software Operations — the original name of SRI-B. What started as a modest beginning, driven by curiosity and determination, has since evolved into one of the strongest innovation hubs within Samsung’s global technology ecosystem. Over the years, this early foundation grew into a centre known for breakthrough ideas and reimagined technologies, reflecting the powerful synergy of Korean ambition and Indian passion.

From contributing to the world’s first 3G, 4G and 5G releases to supporting Make in India initiatives and delivering flagship innovations for Galaxy S series and Z series, SRI-B has consistently driven meaningful progress. Those early years were defined by experimentation, long hours and an unwavering spirit to build something enduring — a spirit that continues to define the centre today.

Sarang brought this extraordinary journey to life in a visually captivating way. The evening began with inspiring remarks from Mohan Rao Goli, Managing Director, SRI-B, whose address reflected on the past, celebrated the present and envisioned an even more ambitious future. Nearly 2,000 employees attended the celebration, which featured a breathtaking sand art performance illustrating SRI-B’s story.

“Over the past three decades, we have achieved remarkable growth by embracing technological advancements, anticipating change, and delivering innovations that seamlessly integrate into people’s everyday lives. While technology serves as a powerful enabler, it is our people who remain the true catalysts of this transformative journey. Every breakthrough and milestone stands as a testament to the creativity, ideas and passion of our teams. As we celebrate this significant occasion, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has contributed to SRI-B’s journey. I look forward with confidence and optimism to the years ahead, and I hope that three decades from now, we will once again come together to celebrate our shared passion, innovation and success”, said Mohan Rao Goli, CVP and Managing Director, SRI-B.

The event also showcased vibrant performances — from a music jam session by leaders and stand-up comedy by Sumukhi Suresh to energetic dance and musical acts by employees and leadership alike. Annual awards recognising SRIBians for their exemplary contributions were also announced. Altogether, the evening seamlessly blended celebration, excellence and passion.

Beyond the performances and festivities, Sarang highlighted a deeper purpose. One of the most memorable moments of the evening was seeing students from a government school in Kolar walk the ramp alongside SRI-B leaders. During the ceremony, leaders were joined on stage by students from the school supported by SRI-B this year — not as beneficiaries, but as equals. The walk symbolised Samsung’s core ethos: leadership is at its best when it walks with the future, learning from it and enabling it.

SRI-B also acknowledged its extended support ecosystem, including teams from Suwon, Seoul and Samsung’s Global R&D Centres (GRCs), whose collaboration has been integral to this journey.

Samsung’s people-centric philosophy has always been one of its greatest strengths, and Sarang beautifully reaffirmed this commitment. More than an event, it was a heartfelt expression of gratitude, unity and forward momentum.

As the lights dimmed and applause filled the venue, one thing was clear: the story that began with a handful of engineers in 1996 is still being written — and its most exciting chapters lie ahead.

Mohan Rao Goli, Chief Technology Officer, SRI-B receiving the award from Mr. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Government of India at a ceremony in New Delhi

Samsung R&D Institute – Bangalore (SRI-B), Samsung’s largest R&D centre outside Korea, has been conferred the National Intellectual Property Award 2021 and 2022 by the Government of India in the category of top public limited company/private limited company for patents filing, grant and commercialization in India: Services Sector.

Additionally, SRI-B also won the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) IP Enterprises Trophy.

The award was presented to SRI-B by Mr. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Government of India at a ceremony in New Delhi.

“At Samsung, we are honoured to receive this prestigious award from Government of India. It is a recognition of our efforts to upgrade standards in the field of patents and innovation, as well as creating a strong culture of patent filing within our organisation in the areas of Communication Protocols, Visual intelligent Solutions, AI/ML, Internet of Things, Data Intelligence and Services. Samsung’s vision is to inspire the world by creating breakthrough innovations, technologies, products and design that enrich people’s lives,” said Mohan Rao Goli, Chief Technology Officer, SRI-B.

The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, confers the annual National Intellectual Property Awards to outstanding innovators, organizations, and companies in the field of patents, designs and trademarks every year.

The National Intellectual Property (IP) Awards are conferred every year to recognize and reward the top achievers comprising individuals, institutions, organizations and enterprises, for their IP creations and commercialization, which have contributed towards strengthening IP eco-system in the country and in encouraging creativity and innovation.

So far, SRI-B has filed over 7,500 patents in India and globally. Engineers at SRI-B have filed patents around areas such as multi-camera solutions, 5G, 6G as well as ultra-wideband wireless communications protocol. These patents have been commercialized in Samsung flagship Galaxy smartphones, smartwatches and network equipment, among others.

Over the last few years, SRI-B has embarked on a path to become a patents powerhouse by improving the quality of innovations and developing a patents mindset among its engineers. IN recent years, many young, first time inventors have emerged at SRI-B.

At SRI-B today, nearly 50% of patent filers are first-time inventors and about 27% have less than five years of experience. With this strong patent filing culture, SRI-B has seen a 100% increase in annual patent filings over the last four years while commercialization of patents filed by Samsung has increased by four times in last 3 years, meaning these innovations are ultimately offered in Samsung products. The majority of patents filed are in emerging areas such as 5G, AI, ML, IoT, camera & vision technologies.

SRI-B has a specialized intellectual property team that conducts invention-creation training, advanced inventive step training to help employees understand the idea and process of innovation. Most of the patents have been filed by the young millennials and Gen Z who have just entered the workforce.

To simplify the process for the inventors, SRI-B has also set up an internal portal. This portal is a one-stop-shop for all patent filing information that an engineer requires during the process.

In order to strengthen Industry-Academia connect, Samsung R&D has been working with young innovators across top engineering colleges as part of a popular students’ engagement program named Samsung PRISM.

Samsung PRISM was started in 2020 and in the last two years, over 4,500 engineering students and 1,000 professors have worked with SRI-B engineers to deliver live projects successfully. In this time, student and professor teams have filed multiple patents along with SRI-B engineers and have published several research papers in cutting edge domains such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and IoT, strengthening Samsung’s vision of Powering Digital India.

SRI-B is now expanding this program to 70 engineering colleges in India by 2025, aiming to stimulate the Indian innovation ecosystem and make students industry-ready.