The experts of the CIG R&D LAB (CIG) educational and scholarship program selected the participants of the 7th season from Kharkiv Polytechnic. This took place at a pitching event where postgraduate students, students, young scientists and teachers of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute presented their startup projects. Three teams with the best ideas were awarded the scholarships. Among them: an advanced mine detection system; a method of remediation of soils contaminated by heavy metals and radionuclides as a result of military operations; a highly mobile photovoltaic power supply system. From now on, the teams which got into the season will work with CIG specialists until June 2024 to implement their projects and start commercializing them. The winner will receive funding for his or her startup. It should be noted that exactly in this academic year, a record number of startups – 47 works – were submitted to the CIG competition from NTU «KhPI».
The CIG R&D Lab educational and scholarship program from Chernovetskyi Investment Group consists of three stages: submission of applications; presentation of projects to an expert jury and selection of scholarship teams; and determination of the winner. In total, 47 startups took part in the competition in the 2023/2024 academic year, which was the maximum number for all seasons of the CIG R&D LAB program at NTU «KhPI». Ten of them were selected to participate in the pitching. According to the jury members, all the presented projects are of a high level and are relevant in solving complex modern scientific and technical problems. They have new scientific solutions, intellectual property objects, publications in journals, as well as implementation in production or experimental testing in the real sector of the economy.
The selection process was held in an online format, and the jury members were representatives of NTU «KhPI» and Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG). You can watch the selection pitch here.
Following the second stage, three interesting and perspective startups were determined:
BrownC-Rec is a method of soil remediation contaminated by heavy metals and radionuclides as a result of military operations. The team leader is Denis Miroshnichenko, head of the department of oil, gas and solid fuel processing technology at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering. The team consists of Pavlo Karnojitskiy, associate professor of the department, and Mykhailo Miroshnichenko, student. The team already has a prototype, a patent, scientific articles and cooperation agreements with leading European research centers.
MineGuard is an advanced mine detection system that solves the extremely important problem of detecting explosive devices in the deoccupied territories. The complex system processes data from three sources: a thermal imager, a standard camera, and a ferromagnetic detector. The MineGuard components are controlled by artificial intelligence, using a computer vision model that reads data from the cameras and a neural network that can recognize signals from the ferromagnetometer. The team is led by Oleksii Vodka, head of the department of mathematical modeling and intelligent computing in engineering, and Volodymyr Metelev, associate professor of department computer modeling of processes and systems. The team consists of Pavlo Palamarchuk, a PhD student at the department of computer modeling of processes and systems; Marko Gimonov (Team Leader), Serhii Semivolos, and Viktor Lazarev, students of the department of computer modeling of processes and systems; Ilya Govorukha and Mykhailo Myronenko, students of the department of mathematical modeling and intellectual computing in engineering. All the participants of the MineGuard project study and work at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Computer Modeling, Applied Physics and Mathematics of NTU «KhPI».
Prominchik is a highly mobile photovoltaic energy supply system for emergency situations. The project implements an innovative approach that solves an important problem of autonomous electricity and hot water supply in the conditions of military operations; it is mobile, modular, quiet and energy-independent. The system combines the capabilities of generating electrical and thermal energy, and the authors have proposed a modular construction principle that allows the flexible regulation of the power to the needs of specific consumers. The head of the startup is Mykhailo Kirichenko, associate professor of the department of micro- and nanoelectronics at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Computer Modeling, Applied Physics and Mathematics. The team consists of Ivan Fedorov, a student of the department of micro- and nanoelectronics, and Eva Makarova and Vladyslav Berezhnoy, students of the department of electricity transmission of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Power Engineering, Electronics and Electromechanics
The teams developing of these ideas will improve their startups during the current academic year, receiving mentoring and financial support. The main task of NTU «KhPI» startups is to create a product and start commercializing it. The outcome of the 7th season of the CIG R&D LAB program at NTU «KhPI» will be the selection of the winning team, which will receive funding for further project development. The final of the program will take place at the end of the academic year.
Anton Drozdov, deputy director of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Computer Modeling, Applied Physics and Mathematics, is the representative of NTU «KhPI» in the program jury team. Ruslan Kryvobok, head of the Research Department of NTU «KhPI», is the curator of the program from NTU «KhPI».
Note:
The CIG R&D Lab project is being implemented within the framework of a memorandum between NTU «KhPI» and CIG which was signed in August 2018.
Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG) is an investment company which included to the one of the largest venture capital investors in Eastern Europe, was founded in 2012.
For more information: http://cig.vc/