On November 11th, Samsung Electronics held the final round of the third annual interuniversity competition where graduates of Samsung Innovation Campus in Russia introduce their brilliant projects. Graduates of the 2019-2020 academic year and 19 leading partner universities joined the event.

The competition involves two rounds. The final round was conducted in an online format for two days, which allowed everyone to join the discussion of the contestants' works, as well as support the young developers by voting in a special category, ‘Audiences’ Choice’.

Fifteen projects from seven Russian universities made it to the final round and were presented to the audience. The competition was held in three categories corresponding to the training tracks of Samsung Innovation Campus program: ‘Internet of Things (IoT),’ ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI),’ and ‘Mobile Development.’

"I would like to congratulate the graduates and teachers of Samsung Innovation Campus on the successful completion. IT education has always been the center of attention at Samsung Electronics. I believe that Samsung Innovation Campus will help many students to take a worthy place among the talented Russian professionals in the field of AI, IoT and mobile development," commented Jeong Jinguk, Head of R&D Center in Russia and VP of Samsung Electronics Russia.

The team of judges, led by the Head of Department of Advanced R&D of the Moscow Research Center Samsung, selected the winners according to several criteria: idea, technical implementation and presentation. The parameters for evaluating the technical implementation were the software component (program development, programming style, graphical interface) and the engineering component (prototype development, engineering culture of execution, design).

The best project of the IoT track was ‘AutoPill’, developed by Vladimir Shperling, a student of Novosibirsk State Technical University. ‘AutoPill’ is an automatic pill case for people who suffer from memory disorders or are simply forgetful. The device does not allow manual rotation of the mechanism and assumes the delivery of tablets strictly according to the established schedule.

In the Artificial Intelligence track, the winners were students from Southern Federal University, Blagodarny Alexander and Stanislav Krikunov, with the project ‘Monitoring of Human Physical Activity,’ which can facilitate the calculation of physical exercises and help keep a training log.

The first place in the Mobile Development track was ‘Ecobeauty’, developed by Aisova Amina, Minakina Darya, Fedotova Victoria from Siberian Federal University. The app combines an online cosmetic bag helping users to check expiration date and ingredients of a cosmetic product.

The award for Audiences’ Choice went to the project ‘Smart Humidifier’ (46% of votes), developed by Vladislav Sakharov, a student of Russian Technological University (MIREA). From a conventional humidifier, Vladislav added a microcontroller and a humidity sensor to make the device function only when the room is dry.

Alexander Levandrovsky, a student of Russian Technological University (MIREA), with the project ‘Assistant for People with Disabilities,’ was named the winner in Samsung Special Nomination. The project uses a cell phone as the main node of a wearable system to facilitate navigation of people with disabilities in the city. The system includes an ultrasonic rangefinder in a specially designed case that functions like a walking stick. The upcycling idea gives an old phone a second life as a main component in a completely different device.

"The topic of activity in which the participants work today is one of the most innovative. But it's not just cutting-edge words that matter, it's how you do it that matters. Here, in my opinion, the Olympic principle applies, that is, everyone who participates today, they have already gained experience, which means that everyone today is a winner," said Arutyun Ishkhanovich Avetisyan, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"I am happy to congratulate the both of winners of the final projects competition of students of Samsung Innovation Campus and all graduates of the program. Each of them was able to create a solution that can in one way or another make people's lives better, help them with everyday tasks or just entertain them. The high quality of our students demonstrates that while studying at Samsung Innovation Campus, they have acquired knowledge that will enable them to become the qualified IT engineers and create a new future technologies," commented Sergey Pevnev, Director of Corporate Projects at Samsung Electronics CIS.

Samsung Innovation Campus is a strategic IT educational program offered by Samsung Electronics. Launched in 2017, the course aims to foster highly qualified specialists in the most popular areas of ICT. Students of Samsung Innovation Campus get to embark on their own capstone projects, and receive a certification of completion that recognizes their hard work throughout the course. To date, Samsung Innovation Campus programs operates in 34 universities in Russia and Kazakhstan and in many other countries across the globe.

"I would like to note that Samsung Innovation Campus is aimed at unlocking the potential of Russian youth, helping them to master the basics of programming. We thank Samsung for such bright educational projects, where a new generation is being nurtured, demonstrating a decent level of their knowledge and competencies," commented Dmitry Kurochkin, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

In October 2020, Samsung Innovation Campus received Award of Best Social Projects in Russia. Under Samsung’s CSR Vision of “Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People,” Samsung is conducting a range of educational programs to unlock the potential of youth around the world.