Himanshu Srivastava: Samsung Innovation Campus is not just about learning concepts—it is about solving real-world problems with tech

As a curious four-year-old, Himanshu Srivastava watched in awe as his father introduced him to their first computer, sparking an early fascination with technology. That moment ignited a passion for coding, leading him to build his first AI pong game at just nine years old. Today, Himanshu is a software engineer at a startup, turning his childhood dreams into a reality—thanks to the transformative power of Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC).

Hailing from Bihar and raised in West Bengal, Himanshu’s journey reflects resilience, curiosity, and the hunger to learn. While pursuing his degree at CIT in Bengaluru, he immersed himself in ideathons and contests, consistently earning accolades. But the turning point arrived when he discovered the SIC programme at Samsung R&D Institute India-Bangalore (SRI-B).

Aligned with the Government of India’s #SkillIndia and #DigitalIndia initiatives, SIC, Samsung’s flagship CSR initiative, focuses on improving the employability of the youth by training them in high-demand tech fields such as AI, Internet of Things, Big Data and Coding & Programming.

For Himanshu, SIC’s hands-on AI/ML curriculum stood apart from traditional theoretical courses. “The programme wasn’t just about learning concepts—it was about solving real-world problems with technology,” he said. Under the guidance of seasoned mentors, Himanshu sharpened his technical expertise, published a research paper and gained confidence to tackle complex problems.

Now, at Bik AI, Himanshu applies the critical thinking and problem-solving skills instilled in him through SIC. “The real-world challenges I face daily are much easier to manage thanks to the preparation I received inside and outside the classrooms at campus,” he said.

For Himanshu, SIC wasn’t just an opportunity—it was the catalyst that transformed his passion into a thriving career. His story is a testament to the power of practical learning and the impact of programmes such as SIC in nurturing the tech leaders of tomorrow.

This initiative strengthens Samsung’s commitment towards its vision of Powering Digital India.

Samsung has given fellowships to 100 undergraduate and 30 postgraduate engineering students at IIT Madras and IIT Guwahati. The fellowship will support chosen students in their projects that range from traffic estimation and dynamic control of traffic lights, anti-cancer drug research, intrusion detection system to power management for electric vehicles and liquid crystals in solar cells.

Final year engineering students, pursuing B.Tech, Dual Degree (B.Tech + M.Tech) and M.Tech/M.S. (Research), and working on a project that will lead to software or hardware products are eligible for the fellowship. Students from underprivileged backgrounds are given preference, and they must have a cumulative grade of over 6 in any branch of engineering. Samsung provides INR 6,000 per month to undergraduate and INR 25,000 per month to postgraduate students.

“Samsung R&D Institute India, Delhi has been working towards enhancing research and innovation among students at IITs, especially those from weaker sections of the society. Through Samsung Fellowship, we wish to empower the coming generations to utilize their capabilities for social good. We plan to expand this Fellowship to more IITs in the coming years,” said Deokho Kim, Managing Director, Samsung Research & Development Institute, Delhi.

“Samsung helps young people around the world gain access to better education and learning opportunities as part of our citizenship vision of Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People. The new Samsung Fellowship will help students take their ideas forward and develop innovations for the greater good. This initiative is an embodiment of our vision of Powering Digital India that seeks to empower the next generation of young India,” Partha Ghosh, Vice President & Head, Corporate Citizenship, Samsung India, said.

The 130 fellowships given so far have gone to undergraduate and postgraduate students from various branches of engineering including chemical, mechanical, biotechnology, electrical, ocean, CSE, engineering design, civil, metallurgical, materials and aerospace, among others.

Samsung Innovation Campus is the Company’s global citizenship program that aims to bridge proficiency gaps in the country by skilling students on cutting-edge technologies such as IoT, pervasive computing, data science, machine learning, AR/VR and others. Samsung currently has nine Samsung Innovation Campus at IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Hyderabad, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati, IIT-Jodhpur NSUT, and Delhi Technological University (DTU). So far, these labs have trained over 1,000 students.

HealthCube Professional collecting a blood test sample as children wait for their turn.

Fantasy, determination, and excitement coupled with loads of energy – these traits make the best of friends with school-going children. Watching these high-spirited children explore the world fills one with hope and happiness.

The last thing that anyone would like to witness is for this wondrous lot to be plagued by fatigue or deficiencies. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF came together to announce the Anemia Mukt Bharat initiative in March 2018 to create awareness about simple steps to manage this health concern.

Statistically, anemia affects over 50% children in India. Professionals from HealthCube, a Bengaluru-based diagnostic solutions provider, are assigned to carry out the blood tests under this project.  This is done in a camp-like set-up where a healthcare operator attends to a rural area filled with school students waiting for their haemoglobin levels to be tested.

HealthCube Professional collecting a test sample.

Since manual way of recording some of the health parameters remotely was prone to errors, HealthCube needed a mobility technology partner which could aid them in collecting a large amount of data from the field which could be retrieved locally. This is where Samsung stepped in with a palm-sized solution – Galaxy Tab A.

“Samsung collaborated with HealthCube to provide time-saving and cost-effective real-time diagnosis to rural patients. Enabled by Galaxy Tab A, healthcare workers with access to HealthCube’s EzDx app could manage patient data in a quick, easy and secure manner. Samsung is proud to have been the technological partner for HealthCube’s noble initiative,” said Akash Saxenaa , Senior Director, Enterprise Sales, Samsung India.

“HealthCube is used to screen school children for their haemoglobin levels. We store data on HealthCube’s EZDX app installed on Galaxy Tab A. The tablet comes with a bigger display that makes filling and signing e-registration forms easier. The operator in the field can take a photograph and upload it online, in the blink of an eye. Even the battery on it is accountable and can pull off an entire day without the need for a recharge which makes working in remote areas quite amicable. It is fast, reliable and secure,” said Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, Founder, HealthCube.

Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, Founder, HealthCube.

Big screen, high-res camera to record patient data

HealthCube works towards making diagnosis simple and hassle-free in rural areas. They needed technology that could aid them in collecting a large amount of data from the field which could be stored with acute security. Creating patient records with unique IDs was time consuming, and a delay in sharing the patient reports with remote doctors was observed.

The multi-functional tab has made the process of data collection and recording instant. The big screen of the tablet helps the on-field record data from the screening easily. Unique patient records can be created instantly, using the tablet’s high-res camera.

Knox-enabled patient confidentiality, easy sharing

Maintaining data security of patient reports and avoiding misuse of the tools given to the person on field duty posed another critical challenge.  They required to track the location of the beneficiary for analytical and security purposes. Knox Manage provides vault-like security to safeguard patient data stored onto the tablet.

With ample space, the unique records of the patient can be stored and uploaded on the cloud. The records can then be immediately shared with/by the healthcare workers, securely.

“Knox Manager helps take patient confidentiality to an all-new level as the records simply cannot be broken into easily, said Puneet Mann, Implementation Manager, HealthCube.

HealthCube Professional collecting a test sample.

Powerful battery, GPS for remote areas

The GPS feature on Galaxy Tab A is of vital use as it helps HealthCube track the location of operators and beneficiaries in real time and ensure their safety.

“The smooth interface on Galaxy Tab A is what makes it ideal for screening. Even in remote areas, no time or data is lost. Not just us operators, even the kids respond better to this process as it does not require them to wait for long hours – everything is streamlined. This tab aids our process perfectly even in the most isolated rural areas as all the patient information is stored and secured automatically,” said Puneet Mann.

“On the Silver Jubilee year of Samsung India, I feel specially privileged to have spent the last 15 years working in this global tech powerhouse. Easily the most thrilling and fast paced 15 years of my professional life, that if I had the chance to rewind the clock and play it once more, I would gladly all over again. What has inspired me the most, has been the rock solid commitment to innovation, specially local India centric innovations, the passion to listen, understand and address our consumers, partners and employees needs, and the ability to deliver what we commit. At this milestone, as India’s technology market leader we refresh our commitment to the country with our new vision of Powering Digital India. We will work for a better tomorrow, together with you,” said Asim Warsi, SVP & Head, E-Commerce Business, Samsung India.

Samsung, India’s biggest and most trusted electronics company, today launched #PoweringDigitalIndia, its brand new vision for the country that will be driven by an exciting new citizenship program aimed at students across the nation, a refreshed local R&D strategy with special focus on the local startup community and new initiatives in manufacturing.

The new vision #PoweringDigitalIndia is being unveiled as Samsung completes 25 successful years in the country, having been a shining star in India’s manufacturing and growth story, and a committed partner in this journey.

Mr. Ken Kang, President & CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia

Launching the new vision, Mr. Ken Kang, President & CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia, said: “At 25, Samsung India is as young and vibrant as New India. Millions of our consumers, our partners and employees, have loved Samsung over the years to make us the country’s biggest, most trusted and most admired brand of mobile phones and consumer electronics, with almost every home in India having a touch of Samsung. Our new vision #PoweringDigitalIndia sets the course for India’s future growth, in which Samsung will continue to be its strongest partner.”

“Samsung is committed to work with the Government of India and various state governments to realize their vision of nation building, digital inclusion, digital empowerment and bridging of the digital divide through multiple initiatives in manufacturing, R&D, creation of jobs and entrepreneurship, responsible citizenship and transformational innovations,” Mr. Ken Kang said.

Citizenship: Vision for the Youth

India is a young country and Samsung intends to contribute to creating leaders of tomorrow. As part of the Powering Digital India vision, Samsung will launch a new youth-centric citizenship program which will involve engineering students and academia from across the country and will help create a stronger innovation ecosystem in the country. The contours of the program will be unveiled soon.

Refreshed R&D Strategy

On the R&D front, we have a refreshed strategy for next year. Samsung’s R&D centres in India will continue to work on advanced R&D areas such as 5G, AI, IoT as well as on cloud services and embrace end-to-end thinking to take projects from research to development to the commercialization stage. In addition to this, they will expand Open Innovation with startups, students and universities to help strengthen the innovation and startup ecosystem in the country and also augment their in-house innovation capabilities. The culture of innovation at Samsung R&D centres will allow thousands of engineers to create patents and leave their mark in the fields of technology and user experience.

Leading Network Evolution

Samsung has built the largest nationwide 4G LTE network for an Indian telecommunications company. This is also one of the world’s biggest data carriers, providing reliable network services to both consumers and industries. Samsung is also a pioneer in 5G technology and is working with various partners in India to help lead network evolution, paving the way for India’s digital transformation.

New Initiatives in Manufacturing

Samsung is planning new initiatives in manufacturing in India, contributing to the government’s vision of ‘Make in India’ and developing the country as an electronics manufacturing and exports hub.

To mark the occasion, Samsung India has launched a logo for the new vision.

The digital world today signifies connectivity and transformation. The logo takes inspiration from this world and provides a visual meaning which indicates looking ahead, innovation and speed. The logo design uses the dot design on top of “I” which represents motion and speed. It is dynamic, smart and futuristic, and takes inspiration from minimalist design. It’s modern, uncluttered and uses India colours in a smart way, by utilizing the negative space, so that it does not obstruct the overall design and colours are used as accents.

Samsung’s journey in India started back in 1995, in the early days of India’s economic liberalization and globalization that started in 1991. Since then, Samsung has grown with India to become the country’s largest mobile phone and consumer electronics company with two manufacturing facilities, five R&D centres and one design centre, 200,000 retail outlets, over 70,000 employees, and revenues in excess of USD 10 billion. Samsung’s first manufacturing facility in Noida and R&D centre in Bengaluru came up as early as 1996. This partnership of over two decades has been of trust, support, innovation and growth.

In 2018, Samsung inaugurated the World’s Largest Mobile Factory in Noida with the vision to make India a global manufacturing hub. This factory was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Samsung also set up the World’s Largest Mobile Experience Centre at the iconic Opera House in Bengaluru, further strengthening its commitment to India.