On January 26, first Student Entrepreneurship Festival (StudFest-2020) was held, with NUST MISIS being the General partner. NUST MISIS student team Aluminum vs Titanium got to the super final and won the silver medal with the project “Additive manufacturing of a full cycle”. The presented development was highly appreciated by the team’s mentor, Hoff co-founder Mikhail Kuchment, who stated that it could also be in demand by Hoff company.
On the festival, NUST MISIS was presented by 11 teams with their research on IT, materials science, biomedicine, education etc. Ahead of 300 teams of leading Russian universities, 3 student teams reached the super final of the competition. Based on the results of the independent vote, team Aluminum vs Titanium took the 2nd place with the project “Additive manufacturing of a full cycle”.
The team was mentored by Hoff co-founder Mikhail Kuchment, who highly appreciated the work done by the participants: “The team presented a well-developed business idea, a competitive product that can be scaled, which would allow to build a large successful company and quickly recoup the investments. The development can revolutionize pricing and can be used in various areas, including Hoff company.”
NUST MISIS students presented an innovative aluminum powder for 3D-printing of details with high strength and low density composite. According to the developers, this will be especially attractive for the aviation industry, as it allows you to make details of complex shapes and reduce their weight and cost.
“Working with a mentor helped us to look at the project from a different angle, to see new areas of application of our development. We plan to continue working in the University’s laboratory and find ways to improve our research”, comments team captain, 1st years master’s student Alexander Vasil’yev.
NUST MISIS pays great attention to the formation of students’ skills in technology entrepreneurship. The innovation environment around the University includes more than 30 small innovative enterprises created by graduates of the University. Among them is Karfidov Lab, which specializes in full-cycle development of innovative technical products. Karfidov Lab became one of the creators of the Sochi 2014 Olympic torch. Another example is Biomimetix company, which is engaged in the creation of composite materials for new-generation implants in partnership with N.N. Blokhin Cancer Research Center, CITO, A.V. Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery etc.
“One of the key aims of NUST MISIS as one of the leading Russian technical universities is to promote the creation of a creative eco-environment, an entrepreneurial climate at the University, and to provide students with the competencies and skills necessary for establishing small innovative enterprises. Such events as StudFest-2020 are one of the ways to develop young people’s skills of technology entrepreneurship, which helps them successfully convert their scientific and engineering developments into real business projects”, comments NUST MISIS Rector Alevtina Chernikova.
StudFest is organized by the Department of entrepreneurship and innovative development of the city of Moscow and ANO “Human Capital Development”. During the festival, experienced mentors taught students how to launch, develop and sell business ideas using soft skills, and how these skills help spur self-development and implement any idea.