New Delhi: Eight young innovators from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have reached the Top 20 of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026 competition.
They bring five technology-based ideas aimed at improving para-sports, athlete performance, swimming safety and exercise support for people with Parkinson’s disease.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is an innovation competition where students use STEM to solve community challenges. In its fifth edition in India, the competition has four themes: AI Living for India, Health and Education, Environmental Sustainability, and Sport and Tech.
The eight innovators, including Vatala Harika (21) and Ritesh Routray (20) from Sundargarh in Odisha, are part of a national Top 20 cohort representing 18 cities across 12 states. The other six innovators are Pasupuleti Ruthvik, Kolla Venkata Siva Surya, Homanshika Reddy Pullagurla, Manoj Kumar Kasinathan, Jena R and Chriswin William D.
More than half of the finalists come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, Samsung said. The Top 20 teams are now receiving mentorship and support to develop prototypes. Four winning teams will collectively receive Rs 2 crore in grants and incubation support from FITT-IIT Delhi.
Using AI to identify para-sport talent
According to judges at the competition, Vatala and Ritesh are using AI to identify para-athletes.
Their project, ParaSync, is an AI-based platform that assesses adaptive sporting techniques and identifies promising athletes. It also aims to connect them with professional coaching and competitive opportunities.
The project is based on the idea that sporting talent can emerge outside established sporting centres, where athletes may have fewer opportunities to access formal training and competition.
Making swimming safer for visually impaired athletes
Two of the five projects focus on challenges faced by visually-impaired swimmers.
Pasupuleti Ruthvik (21) from Chittoor has developed Untethered, a wearable sensor system designed to alert swimmers when they are approaching the end of a pool lane.
For visually-impaired swimmers, reaching the wall without a visual cue can be difficult and may result in head injuries. Ruthvik’s system provides real-time alerts, reducing dependence on manual cues from coaches and allowing swimmers to train more independently.
Visakhapatnam-resident Kolla Venkata Siva Surya (16) is working on a different challenge: maintaining direction inside the lane. His assistive trajectory system detects when a swimmer begins to move away from the intended path and provides real-time feedback, allowing the swimmer to correct his or her trajectory.
Wearables for safer exercise and training
In Chennai, Manoj Kumar Kasinathan (21), Jena R (20) and Chriswin William D (20) are developing Rogue, a wearable device aimed at supporting exercise for people with Parkinson’s disease.
Hyderabad-based Homanshika Reddy Pullagurla (21) is developing Somatrace, an IoT-enabled wearable designed to monitor spinal load among precision-sport athletes.
The device tracks movement and physical load in real time, helping athletes understand the strain their bodies experience during training and how they respond to different movements.
The eight innovators took part in a prototyping programme with FITT-IIT Delhi that included an innovation bootcamp and online mentoring from Samsung experts.