Enrolling As an ITMO Star: A Wealth of Opportunities

Who are the first graduates of the innovative ITMO.STARS admission track?

Several dozens of gifted students entered the university as ITMO.STARS since – and this year the first cohort of them is graduating with their Bachelor’s degrees. In this special series, we present the stories of these first graduates, who share how taking part in ITMO.STARS changed their lives, what projects they are implementing at the university, and what they are dreaming of next.

Four years ago, ITMO University launched ITMO.STARS, a unique initiative that allows applicants to enroll at the university based on their personal accomplishments, such as self-developed mobile apps, research, or business projects, without worrying about their Unified State Exam points. The top contestants, chosen by a special committee, get to study at ITMO tuition-free. Upon entering ITMO, they get to nurture their talents and launch new projects.

MEET THE HEROES

I’ve been into economics since school. Once we were asked to make a business project and I came up with a way to make a great tourist location decorated as a viking village. Everyone loved it and I applied for two contests, a city-level one and a regional one. They criticized me at the first contest but I won the second one! Then I applied with my project to ITMO.STARS and it allowed me to enter the university. I’ve achieved a lot thanks to it but I don’t pursue this project anymore, as I’ve switched fields and am engaged in more than just economics now.

I applied to ITMO.STARS when it was held for the very first time so there was no one to consult on what it’s like and I didn’t think I’d succeed. Initially, I didn’t even want to leave my hometown, Tambov, but I changed my mind after going to St. Petersburg and visiting ITMO University and the OLIMP lab.

At first, I was a bit dazzled by the big city, the university, and its large-scale projects. I wasn’t sure if there was anything I could contribute to them. But once I joined the Energy Club as an SMM manager, it all changed and started to escalate, and now I’m the club’s head.

We strive to ensure that our students have close ties with companies and realize that the energy industry is a prospective field where all kinds of specialists are appreciated.

I was really anxious to become the club’s head and had no idea what I was doing at first, but then I managed to overcome my fears through persistence and motivation. Now our partners choose us out of the five energy clubs to organize big-budget events.

I’m the kind of person who gets everything done neatly and in advance. That’s what I did with my thesis, too, even though there was quite a lot of time before the deadline. However, my research supervisor noticed a mistake in my calculations after I’d already submitted the paper. But I’m not the shy type and I called the commission’s chairperson, apologized, and explained everything. Somehow, they let me correct the error and everything went great.

Among my achievements are winning a grant competition by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs to implement a patriotic project and organization of the university’s events, such as ITMO.LiVE, ITMO Family Day, and ITMO Enter.

I’ve been doing gymnastics for 12 years before going to university. As a first-year student, I heard about the launch of a sports aerobics team and didn’t hesitate to join – so I’ve been a part of it since the very start.

More than a university

I plan to enter a Master’s program at ITMO – I’ve already won the portfolio contest. Apart from that, I’ll do a summer internship at Gazprom Neft. Plus, I’ll continue to organize major ITMO events. ITMO Enter is coming up and I’m sure we’ll do great.

Future plans

NAME: Elizaveta Punchenko
AGE: 22
SPECIALIZATION: biotechnologist, graduate of the Faculty of Biotechnologies
BIO: started writing scientific papers in high school; as a first-year university student, joined forces with other newcomers to organize the Mendeleev 150 conference and assisted in the planning of the 20th International Sol-Gel Conference. Was one of the organizers of the citizen science project Internet of Bacteria, participated in various events as a volunteer (including UEFA Euro 2020). Wants to get a Master’s degree, work in a lab, and teach.

Lately, I’ve been interested in probiotic bacteria, such as Enterococcus faecium L3. It’s quite well-known for its beneficial properties and is used in the food industry. I wondered how it might be used to create new products. I conducted some studies and acquired good results. Perhaps my research will help create more diverse probiotic products. This particular bacterium is quite resistant to external influences, acids, and alkalis, stores well at room temperature, and isn’t suppressed by pathogenic microflora. For these reasons, it can be used in fermented dairy products and plant-based beverages. It could even help create vegan substitutes for fermented dairy.

I also took part in organizing several major events. During my first year, Mikhail Kurushkin, the dean of my faculty, suggested that my fellow first-year students and I organize the Mendeleev 150 conference. We barely knew anything about the university back then, and there was a lot to do; my task was to sign orders and documents, which involved communicating with many different departments at ITMO and beyond.

When I was on the fence about getting involved in such an adventure, I received advice from fellow ITMO.STAR Nadezhda Maksimenko, who also joined the organizing team. I’m very grateful to her for encouraging me to try!

Organizing an event like that is an enormous effort. And even if you’ve covered all the bases, something might still go wrong and you have to act fast. But at the end, when you’re on stage and you see all the grateful faces, you realize how important your work is. This was an amazing experience and I’m grateful to ITMO and Dr. Kurushkin for the opportunity.

I have quite a few fun pics from Mendeleev 150, like the one where I’m laying like an amoeba after dealing with another hurdle. The conference was held on the Kronverksky campus, back when there were these giant screens in the lobby. We had requested them to be moved to the second floor for a poster session. So there we were, three hours before the session starts, when I realize the screens are still in their original location. I quickly round up some volunteers (absolute legends!) who start hauling the screens to the second floor. Just when it seems to be solved, we find out the cable isn’t long enough. I send one of the organizers to an electronics store to get another cable, but that one’s also too short! So I rush to the store and grab a 50-meter cable. We set it up at the very last minute, duct tape the cable so no one stumbles on it, and here comes the moment of truth: our Spanish colleagues load up their interactive table of elements. All the attendees are in awe, and in the meantime the volunteers are bringing me cold water and blowing air on me with brochures (it was a really hot summer, too).

Not too long ago, I took part in a thesis competition organized by the Government of St. Petersburg. The task was to develop a menu for a school cafeteria, design the space, and so on. It was an unusual experience since it’s about more than just biotech.
I had to learn about design software and how to plan public spaces. It was really useful, too.
Thanks to ITMO and everyone who
supported my project!

In my time as a student, I’ve been a member of different clubs, including the adapters club; I’ve been a volunteer at open-door days and other events. I also decided to help out at Euro 2020, which ended up happening in 2021. This was another time I learned not to give up: when I first applied through ITMO, I was told my English wasn’t up to par. So I applied independently and ended up with a task that involved talking in English all the time. I directed people to different places, telling them where the different cafes, landmarks, or exits are. And this was at the stadium, so I got to see the match live. I can’t say I’m big on football, but it was interesting to give it a try and feel the atmosphere. It was also a great chance to meet people from around the world.

After this, I’d like to apply for a Master’s and continue my research, and to eventually combine that with teaching. I’d like to keep working at ITMO, though I might try other places just to acquire experience.
I will remember the people I met at ITMO with enormous gratitude. The ITMO.Family is indeed just that, a large family that always supports you. You can come to people with any question and, even if they don’t know the answer, they’ll do their best to tell you who does. The people are the most important thing here.

NAME: Alexander Blashenkov
AGE: 22
SPECIALIZATION: programmer, graduate of the Faculty of Software Engineering and Computer Systems
BIO: has been into programming since childhood, won the Moscow Travel Hack hackathon twice; now works at an international IT company.

I fell in love with computers from the moment we had one at home. Then, I took my first steps in programming when I was ten and I was learning intuitively on my own. First, I got into HTML and PHP, then – to Python, Ruby, and everything else.

A passion since childhood

After that I got involved in experiments, just exploring how everything works. In the years before graduation I developed a system that started as an automated bell to announce school breaks but eventually grew into an intranet for a corporate setting. That was the project I joined ITMO.STARS with.

By the way, I learned about the contest by chance from a chat for prospective students, but I had been planning to apply to ITMO anyway. I really liked the program and the university as a whole.

Even though I didn’t really develop the project further during my studies, I relied on this experience throughout these years. For instance, during hackathons, of which I have quite a few under my belt. I started with the VK Hackathon in 2019.

Hackathon wins, all-nighters, and a dream job

Then another ITMO STAR Pavel Zolotov and I went to the Junction hackathon in Finland, where we developed an Android app for alerts about urban infrastructure. Even though we didn’t win, it was a great experience, because I got to visit Finland for the first time.

Then came the Moscow Travel Hack, which we managed to win both times. The first time we developed an automated photo zone for the PANORAMA 360 company and the second time we created the Russpass ID service for the Russpass tourism company.

We also had a lot of fun over the years. For instance, in our first year, my groupmates and I used to frequent Velikan Park, a mall near ITMO’s Kronverksky campus, where we would always go backwards on the escalator. Years have gone by, but when we recently met there once more, we reenacted our old tradition – and it was so much fun!

These days I work at JetBrains, which I first got into as an intern. I am part of two teams, one is Rider, and the other is Remote development and collaboration tools, where we develop several tools: Rider, which is an IDE for .NET; Gateway, which is a solution for remote development; and Code With Me, a plugin for development as a tandem.

My job also helped me complete my thesis: in September 2021 we had an internal hackathon, where I devised an improvement for one of the company’s products. I am currently improving this service – I will need to upgrade its UX before it gets implemented at the company. I also got full marks for my thesis, which I managed to write in two weeks of sleepless nights at the coworking!

Apart from studying, I shot for Megabyte Media and volunteered at events, such as NERC ICPC. Moreover, I was an admin of our program’s Telegram channel and was quite good at it. People eventually even messaged me about the memes I used there.

I really like product development. I have been at JetBrains for two years and I am part of two awesome teams that I don’t want to leave, so I’ll continue working with them when I move to Berlin this summer. I might return to Russia, but it will depend on the IT field in the country.

As for my years at ITMO, I can say that everything happens for a reason and I do not regret anything. I can’t really imagine how anyone could regret being a part of ITMO.STARS. At the university, I learned many things and acquired a cool community of friends. These were four wonderful years.