On December 11-13, 2012 the final stage of the first Ukrainian Festival of Innovative Projects “Sikorsky Challenge” took place at NTUU “KPI”. The Festival is named after famous aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky.
Among the Festival’s organizers there were National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Science park “Kyivska Polytechnika”, Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), Independent Association of the Banks of Ukraine (IABU). The Festival was held under the patronage of the Leonid Kuchma’s Presidential Foundation “Ukraine” in collaboration with the Embassy of the USA in Ukraine, European Commission, innovative companies and funds of Ukraine, European Union and the United States. The international jury consisted of experts from Ukraine, USA, France, Brazil and Japan.
The main objectives of the Festival were to promote Ukrainian scholars and entrepreneurs to participate in research, design and construction activities and to stimulate scientific work in technical fields. According to Festival’s conditions it encouraged participation of students, graduate students, researchers and staff of higher education and research institutions and others. More than 100 projects were presented to the jury, which had got theoretical (research) and practical business nature (discovery, invention, utility model). 15 projects have reached the Final stage.
The Festival’s program included lections, round tables, presentations and master classes with participation of experts of the Silicon Valley, Science park “Kyivska Polytechnika”, STCU, professors of Kyoto University of Technology as well as Ukrainian scientists and engineers.
On December 12, 2012 Mychailo Zgurovsky, NTUU “KPI” rector, Pavlo Gaidutskiy, Director of the Institute of Strategic Estimations of the Leonid Kuchma’s Presidential Foundation “Ukraine”, Victor Ivchenko, Deputy Head of the State Agency of Science, Innovation and Informatization of Ukraine, Ruslan Kramarenko, Deputy Head of Kyiv City State Administration, Serhiy Mamedov, Executive Director of the Independent Association of the Banks of Ukraine, Vic Korsun, Deputy Head of Science and Technology Center in Ukraine, delivered greeting messages to the participants of the Festival at the Academic Council Hall of NTUU “KPI”.
The winner of the Festival became a project “Instrumental means for managing heat influence and its control for heart disease treatment” by V. Maksymenko and V. Shlykov. The second and the third places won the projects “Ultrasonic cavitations system decontamination liquids” by O. Lugovskoy and “Trishomocubane based antiviral drugs” by I. Levandovsky. Three authors, the Festival’s winners, were awarded with prizes: The Independent Association of the Banks of Ukraine gave 160 thousands UAH to support their projects. A lot of other projects presented at the Final stage of the Festival received money for their realization from the Leonid Kuchma’s Presidential Foundation “Ukraine” and European Commission.