Samsung Honors Three Teams with ‘Breakthroughs that Matter’ Award at Washington DC MIT Hacking Medicine Grand Hack

RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ – August 6, 2019 – Samsung Electronics America, Inc., presented three teams – SAIF, Key Watch and Crowd Aid with the “Breakthroughs that Matter” Award on the final day of the MIT Hacking Medicine Grand Hack in Washington, D.C. All three teams were awarded for their innovative pitches and solutions in each track – Mental Health and Professional Burnout; Access to Healthcare; and Rare and Orphan Diseases.

The SAIF team won the “Breakthroughs that Matter” Award for creating an AI platform intended to identify patients’ mental and emotional distress and initiate early intervention.

“Samsung is incredibly proud to see our technology used in new, innovative ways,” said Taher Behbehani, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Mobile B2B Division, Samsung Electronics America. “Through our participation in the MIT Hacking Medicine hackathons and with awards like Breakthroughs that Matter, Samsung is continuing to bridge a gap between industry, academia and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in order to deliver solutions that address critical health care challenges.”

The Crowd Aid team won the “Breakthroughs that Matter” Award for building a platform to crowdsource funding for veterans without insurance in a sustainable way.

The Samsung Breakthroughs that Matter Award was created to inspire and reward innovative entrepreneurs who utilize Samsung’s mobile solutions – hardware and software – in the development of health care solutions that ultimately improve Veterans’ quality of care and provide a positive impact on their lives.

The Key Watch team won the “Breakthroughs that Matter” Award for developing a way to monitor response to medication to tackle misdiagnosis of rare diseases.

“Congratulations to the winners of the Samsung Breakthroughs that matter Awards. We’re excited to see what comes next for these teams,” said Suzanne Shirley, VHA National Entrepreneur in Residence during the 2019 MIT DC Grand Hack. “Samsung has been an incredible partner for the 2019 MIT DC Grand Hack, and these awards are just another example of their support of healthcare innovation and our nation’s Veterans.”

Each winning team member will receive a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and a Knox Security Platform license, as well as access to Samsung Developer Program mentors who will assist in progressing the development of these winning applications.

“On behalf of Samsung, I want to congratulate all three teams on winning the Breakthroughs that Matter award, said Chris Balcik, Vice President of Federal, Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung will continue to embrace these innovative entrepreneurs and provide access to the resources they need to complete the mission that drove them to create such transformative applications for our nation’s Veterans.  Our motto – “do what you can’t” – reflects our commitment to developing solutions that helps people achieve the impossible. This vision is grounded in remembrance – of where we came from and how we got here. We are focused on continuing to showcase technology’s ability to solve the most pressing healthcare challenges of our time.”

For more information about how Samsung is helping Healthcare and Government industries change the way they address business challenges, please visit https://insights.samsung.com/.