IIT Madras Wins Sixth Edition of Samsung E.D.G.E Campus Program

MUMBAI:
Samsung, India’s largest and most trusted consumer electronics brand, concluded the sixth edition Samsung E.D.G.E., with over 5,000 students from 20 top institutions participating in the pan-India campus program.

Raghav Talwar, Abhinav Nahata and Kush Ganatra of Team AKR Menders from IIT Madras took home the first prize. Their innovative solution to optimize each step of the user journey in the context of a Direct to Consumer (D2C) business using AI recommendation, AR/VR, IoT & QR Code integration impressed the jury the most and won them a cash prize of INR 400,000 and Samsung’s flagship smartphones. Team Purple of ISB Hyderabad, with their solution for D2C business that integrated a customer’s journey in an offline store with online, stood second. They won a cash prize of INR 200,000 and pre-
placement interviews with Samsung.

Team Trifecta of FMS Delhi came third for presenting a solution to smoothen the journey of a consumer and provide an end-to-end experience. The team was awarded a cash prize of INR 100,000. This year too, to ensure the safety of all participants, the Samsung E.D.G.E. campus program was conducted virtually. The virtual finale was attended by Mr. Ken Kang, President & CEO, Samsung SWA and other senior leaders of Samsung India.

“At Samsung, we have always believed in the power of innovation to change the world for the better and are proud to conclude another successful year of our campus program Samsung E.D.G.E. As a platform, Samsung E.D.G.E. endeavours to discover and nurture the leaders of tomorrow and we are extremely delighted with the massive increase in participation rate year on year and the impressive innovative solutions presented this season,” said Sameer Wadhawan, Head, Human Resources, Samsung India.

Samsung E.D.G.E. is a nationwide campus platform that provides thousands of brilliant minds the opportunity to showcase their business acumen, strategic thinking and leadership skills each year. The program, which started in 2016, sees the brightest minds from top B-Schools, Engineering & Design Institutes come together from top institutes and provide distinctive solutions to real-time challenges. The program provides an opportunity to the country’s brightest students to exhibit their talents, exchange meaningful insights and get a head-start in their careers.

The 2-month program is conducted over three rounds of rigorous evaluation. This year, over 1,700 teams from 20 colleges participated. The first round requires each participating team to present an executive summary after thorough research and ideation. Post evaluation, one team is selected from each campus. They work on a case study, submit and present their detailed solutions in the regional round. This year, nine teams were shortlisted and mentored by Samsung’s leaders to battle it out for the top 3 spots in the national round.