Samsung awards Rs 1 lakh each to 30 Innovation Campus toppers across India

GURUGRAM: Talk about a smart payout. Samsung has rewarded some of India’s brightest young tech minds, handing out Rs 1 lakh each to 30 top-performing students under its flagship Samsung Innovation Campus programme.

The awards were presented by Samsung India to four national toppers, 26 state-level toppers and one social media champion selected from a pool of 20,000 students trained through the programme. The winners came from 10 states, underscoring how technology talent is increasingly emerging from beyond India’s traditional metropolitan centres.

The students were recognised for outstanding performance across four future-focused disciplines: artificial intelligence, coding and programming, Internet of Things (IoT), and big data.

The felicitation ceremony took place at Samsung India’s headquarters in Gurugram and was attended by JB Park, who encouraged students to continue embracing innovation and lifelong learning.

“When I look at all of you, I do not just see students. I see future engineers, creators, entrepreneurs, researchers and perhaps future CEOs. AI, coding and data are no longer skills of tomorrow; they are skills of today,” said Samsung Southwest Asia president and CEO JB Park.

The programme is aligned with the Indian government’s Skill India and Digital India initiatives and forms a key part of Samsung’s corporate social responsibility efforts to prepare young people for a technology-driven future.

Among the standout stories was that of Aishwarya Sanjay from Karnataka, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Agricultural Extension Education. Drawing on her training through the programme, she developed an AI-powered model designed to improve farmers’ market access through community-supported agriculture.

Another topper, Shivam Singh from Uttar Pradesh, explored IoT, cybersecurity and automation technologies through the course. His projects ranged from home automation systems to cybersecurity models, experiences that helped him secure an internship with the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology.

Students including Dev Uppal from Delhi and Vanshika Raghav from Haryana also credited the programme with helping them translate classroom concepts into practical solutions while sharpening their analytical and technical skills.

Beyond the awards, the winners were given an inside look at Samsung’s innovation ecosystem through visits to its research and development centres in Noida and Delhi, as well as its design centre in Delhi. The students interacted with technology leaders and gained first-hand exposure to product development, design thinking and user-centric innovation.

The event was also attended by Madhvendra Singh and Kulbhushan H Gawas. Samsung Innovation Campus is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council, both of which play a key role in setting industry skill standards and supporting workforce development under India’s skilling ecosystem.

As India accelerates its digital ambitions, Samsung’s initiative is helping ensure that the country’s next generation of innovators can come from anywhere, not just its biggest cities.