People Who Create Something New: Over 4,000 High School Students Take Part in PROD

© HSE University

The final stage of the first Russian Olympiad on Industrial Development, PROD, hosted by the Central University, T-Bank, and HSE University, has concluded in Moscow. More than 4,000 students from Russia and 22 other countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Canada, China, Belarus, and Peru, took part.

Industrial programming is the development of software used in real-world business processes by startups and IT companies. The PROD Olympiad is the first and only hands-on competition in Russia where students learn how to create IT systems, automate processes, and develop applications that help businesses become more efficient and reduce costs.

This year’s winners were 17 talented students from Russia and Belarus. They received full scholarships to study at the Central University, a discount of up to 90% on tuition fees for their joint bachelor's programme with HSE University and the Central University, and the opportunity to undergo a simplified selection process for an internship at T-Bank.

© HSE University

All but the final stage of the olympiad was conducted online, making it accessible to students from different parts of Russia and Belarus. For the final round, 235 high school students from 49 different regions of Russia and Belarus gathered in Moscow.

In the final stage, participants worked in teams under the guidance of experienced mentors and experts from the Central University, T-Bank, HSE University, Yandex, and last year's winners of the PROD Olympiad—students from the Central University and the HSE University Faculty of Computer Science. Thanks to this format, the participants not only improved their programming skills, but also learnt how to interact and work together, which is essential for future specialists.

Over the course of five days, teams competed to develop full-scale IT products. These products included:

 a platform for data analysis competitions;

 a book sharing service;

 a project to create loyalty programmes for T-Bank's partners;

 a platform for searching mentors;

 a movie selection service;

 a service for booking co-working spaces.

© HSE University

Last year, 153 participants, including 43 winners and runners-up, enrolled at leading universities such as the Central University, HSE University, MIPT, ITMO, Innopolis, and MIREA. Nine contestants received internships at T-Bank, and four of them were later hired.

The award ceremony took place at the HSE University Cultural Centre, and the winners were congratulated by Evgeny Ivashkevich, Rector of the Central University; Anton Loginov, Vice President of T-Bank; Anna Orlova, Director of Human Resources Development at T-Bank; Yaroslav Kuzminov, Academic Supervisor at HSE University; Irina Martusevich, Vice Rector of HSE University; and Ivan Arzhantsev, Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science of HSE University.

Evgeny Ivashkevich

© HSE University

‘PROD is the first practice-oriented olympiad in Russia and therefore the first truly meaningful competition for students,’ said Evgeny Ivashkevich, Rector of the Central University. ‘Here, the students are given real-life problems from companies, not academic—and often artificial—tasks. Many non-standard solutions to these problems proposed by the participants will definitely find application in real projects. It seems to me that this is what distinguishes the PROD Olympiad from the usual subject competitions in mathematics, informatics, and other sciences.’

He continued, ‘We launched the olympiad only a year ago, and we are delighted to see that the number of participants has grown and the competition has extended beyond the country's borders. More than 4,000 students from 23 countries have participated so far. PROD has truly become international.’

Yaroslav Kuzminov

‘Here at the PROD Olympiad award ceremony, we have gathered people who know how to create something new and, most importantly, how to do it as a team,’ said Yaroslav Kuzminov, Academic Supervisor at HSE University. ‘The whole life of a creative individual, who earns more by being different and feels great, is based on offering new ideas and doing them together with others, never alone. For others and with others.

When you enter universities, it will be different from school. There, it was easy to cope with the curriculum because you were smarter and stronger than others. But at universities such as HSE University, MIPT, the Central University, and the MSU Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, you will be among talented people like yourself. My wish for you is to remain creative and never stop growing.’