Hlib Skopyk, a student of the FPM, will receive a scholarship in the academic year 2024/25. He is studying Software Engineering and has the first place in the third-year academic performance rating.

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At the beginning of the journey. Hlib is a graduate of Kyiv Gymnasium #178, where he was ‘lucky enough to grow up and study with people who were committed to education and productivity.’ There, he developed a passion for the sciences. In particular, to mathematics, for which the young man is grateful to the Honoured Teacher of Ukraine Yukhym Rabinovych. 

‘I am sure that every problem can teach something, and therefore deserves to be solved with all possible diligence and attention,’ the student shares his life credo. ’At the time of choosing a university, I realised that there is a simple way, and there is Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, which is a kind of test of the mind and personality. I decided that it was here that I would face problems and tasks that would help me in my professional growth. Also, at school, I was convinced that in a community, people are able to achieve much more, much faster. And the community of KPI students is known for its initiative and energy, and I am happy to say that it is. 

I chose to study at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics because I am fascinated by mathematics and what it allows me to achieve. As a confirmation, when I was a first-year student, the so-called AI explosion took place, during which the whole world discovered how powerful the mathematical apparatus could be. Today, I am interested in neural networks, and the knowledge base gained at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute helps me a lot.’ 

Achievements. It is well known that studying at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute means ‘studying’ or ‘working’, not spending time. So I always wonder how students have enough time to prepare for and successfully participate in all kinds of professional competitions and contests. Glib seems to be able to talk about his student achievements without repeating himself. 

Judge for yourself, the data is only for last year. 

The student took part in the XIII International Festival of Innovative Projects ‘Sikorsky Challenge 2024’, where he and Volodymyr Symchych became finalists in the nomination ‘Pharmacology, Telemedicine and Diagnostics Services’. Under the guidance of Associate Professor Lesia Liushenko, they created an application to help practicing surgeons diagnose and choose a treatment for patients with chronic lower limb ischaemia. ‘At the Festival, I had the honour to present our project: to define the basis for the development and announce the main stages of further development,’ says the author. ’I am glad to say that the jury members shared our enthusiasm for the app's prospects. They provided expert advice and offered real help.  Soon we plan to devote all the attention that our active student life leaves us to making this app a reality.’

Hlib Skopyk won second place in the international competition of student research papers ‘lack Sea Science’.  He prepared a computer programme in Python that allows optimising the operation of electronic circuits. ‘A working programme that finds a close to optimal solution has been successfully created and tested,’ explains the developer. ’The performance of the programme makes it potentially useful in industrial scale circuit production. The article ‘The problem of optimising the number of logical elements required to implement several Boolean functions using a decoder’, prepared under the guidance of Associate Professor Mykola Onai, was also devoted to this topic and accepted for publication by the journal Automation of Technological and Business Processes (included in category B of the List of Scientific Professional Publications of Ukraine).

In addition, Hlib organised a team of four fellow students who created an information and communication system that can help improve communication between residents and city services to improve the overall urban environment. This project took second place in the national competition INFOMATRIX UKRAINE 2024 and was submitted to the international round. Hlib was responsible for analysing the subject area and developing the system architecture, and he also conducted a video presentation of the project. ‘Under the guidance of Lesia Liushenko, PhD, we formed a vision of the system: what it consists of, what resources are needed for implementation - a kind of plan,’ says the developer. ’According to our plan, a Kyivan would choose a place on the map, a category of problem, and thus leave a request. It's easier than with paper applications. Employees of the relevant services would have to respond to these requests. The unique offer of the system was to be feedback, where users could see who was responsible for processing the application and what measures were taken to resolve it.’

G. Skopyk also regularly participates in scientific and practical student conferences held at the university and has publications in collections based on the results of their work. He is also attracted to participate in the ‘Proggy-Buggy’ Programming Olympiad by DataArt. ‘The Olympiad takes no more than an hour,’ says the student, ’and the organisers then review the solutions to the tasks presented. This makes participation in the Olympiad one of the easiest ways to learn about non-standard applications of well-known algorithms and data structures in practice.’

Sports. Of course, even a highly motivated person can't just work and work. ‘An important part of my life is swimming, which I have been doing since I was seven years old,’ says Glib. Even now, despite the power cuts and anxiety, I always combine my studies with swimming lessons. Such physical activity allows me to restore concentration and creativity faster than any other rest. Swimming also helps to find a balance between mind and body, teaches endurance and moderation. I have become who I am, among other things, thanks to sport.’

Plans. ‘In general, the words ‘KPI student’ inspire me because they stand for many achievements,’ the student reflects, ’and I strive to live up to them. I also want to inspire. I see my future in science, so I plan to do what I am doing now - study hard, improve existing software systems, and create my own. I hope that now, or later, my activities can serve as a guide for young people and help them learn that the scientific ambitions of modern students are supported, that there is a way to fulfil their desires and help society.’

Reflections. In conclusion, I would like to share the scholarship holder's thoughts on the involvement and responsibility of everyone to be responsible for what is happening and will happen: ‘There is a war going on that is taking the lives of our peers. They were just like us - smart, determined, ambitious, with great potential. Words cannot express how many books have not been written, discoveries have not been made, and lives have not been lived because of the war. That is why the greatest honour to those who died changing the country for the better is to live a life where you do not put things off until tomorrow and do not hesitate, but move forward. Our defenders gave us our today and are fighting for us to think about tomorrow. So we are focused on progress. I believe that today's youth is one of the country's key resources - an intellectual resource. The activities of young people should strengthen Ukraine's position in the international scientific arena. It should build its reputation not only as a country of winners, a country of unbreakable, but also as a country of brilliant scientists, researchers and inventors.’

Indeed, KPI is a unique environment in which engineers and scientists, public figures and politicians, artists and athletes are formed and grow. It was like that more than a hundred years ago, it is like that now, despite all the hardships, and it should be like that for the next generations of polytechnics.

Nadiia Libert