Manasi Ekkundi makes a mark with a differentiation strategy

When your work is your passion, then you will not be bound with limitations. Manasi Ekkundi from Mobile Communication R&D has proven this. Having spent 13 years of her time with Samsung, developing different generations of wireless technologies, today, she is leading a team of both young and veterans. Joining Samsung fresh out of campus, she feels pretty much at home while working from the largest overseas R&D centre. With the offset of Work from Home, she has learnt to adapt innovative ways of connecting as they collaborate with multiple teams abroad. Managing different time zones is not something new for Manasi as she has worked with operators, network vendors and chip manufacturers across the globe during the first 5G smartphone launch.

A large chunk of 5G work and 6G R&D is conducted at Samsung R&D Bangalore (SRI-B) and the Communication Protocol team plays a key role. The team has won several internal awards in the past from the CTO and President of the Mobile business. The recent Business impact award for contributions to the “World First 5G Standalone launch” endowed by President TM Roh is a testimony to the teams’ continued impact in the 5G R&D.

Reminiscing on her most memorable moment, she mentioned, “The first 5G smartphone launch has been a milestone as the entire eco system had to be stabilized before the commercial launch and the entire journey had ample challenges as well as learnings”. She attributes her success to the leadership team of Samsung as they have motivated her to have a differentiation factor. This has always encouraged her to create patents, Proof of Concepts and think like an entrepreneur. Despite the demanding project work, her leaders emphasized on creating a USP for herself. This thought has propelled her in creating a remarkable impact during the deployment of various wireless technologies.

Manasi is currently focussing on new features of 5G like the Standalone mode and VoNR for the upcoming flagship devices. She also spends a great deal of time on machine learning algorithms and its implementation for her domain. With six A1 patents and multiple internal awards from larger Samsung group and SRI-B, Manasi is an inspiration for many as she and her team plays an important part in the world of Communication protocols. When not working, she practices yoga and loves to read books on fiction and biographies. Manasi has made multiple friends not just in India but in Korea and believes that her rapport with them helps in faster execution and delivery of project work.

If you share similar interests and love taking up challenging projects, please visit:

http://www.samsung.com/in/aboutsamsung/careers/careers-center/
https://sec.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Samsung_Careers