On January 25, the Central Library of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute hosted the official opening of the smart shelter CLUST SPACE - the first in Ukraine multifunctional shelter for students. The event was attended by representatives of the state, education, business and public initiatives.
CLUST SPACE is a unique project that combines a safe shelter and modern coworking space. Its goal is to ensure a continuous educational process during the war, as well as to become a platform for talented creative youth to meet with business, as this space will continue to function after the victory.
"CLUST SPACE is not just a one-off solution to the problem of education during the war, but a systematic work on student development. This project has actually become a response to a large number of current public demands and it is a unique security solution that can be transferred to other regions of Ukraine and abroad as well," comments Ruslan Tymofeev, the initiator of the CLUST SPACE project, entrepreneur, founder of the venture builder CLUST and CEO of the venture fund Adventures Lab.
The first CLUST SPACE smart shelter was built in the Central Library of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. This basement used to be one of the library's bookstores.
Today it is 600 m2 of modern multifunctional space that is transformed to meet the needs of students - it can be used for lectures, conferences, presentations, hackathons, or use it as a coworking space for studying or exams. In addition to the general open space, the space has large meeting rooms and rooms for online meetings, reading rooms reading rooms, a cafeteria, a play area, showers, and inclusive restrooms.
As a shelter, the space can accommodate about 500 people. The entire infrastructure, including the ventilation system, is designed to withstand prolonged stays in times of danger.
"Security is an extremely important condition for ensuring educational and scientific processes in wartime. Therefore, the arrangement of a safe and comfortable space, the smart shelter CLUST SPACE, in which the creative community will be able to create world-class innovations, is of great importance not only for
University, but also for the country.
The new innovative shelter on the basis of our scientific and technical library will serve both the KPI community and will be effectively used by participants of the All-Ukrainian innovation ecosystem Sikorsky Challenge Ukraine, The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and other scientific and educational institutions and agencies for the development of innovations", - comments Mykhailo Zgurovsky, Rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
The construction of CLUST SPACE lasted about 5 months and cost $400,000, as such a space has many architectural requirements. In particular, the ventilation system, which had to be completely updated, armored glass, acoustic panels, autonomous power supply, barrier-free access, etc. All this was made possible thanks to the support of our partners.
The main donor of the CLUST SPACE project was Freedom Holding Corp.
The project was also supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service, the Kyiv City State Administration, Svichado and the Usyk Foundation.
"We at Freedom Holding Corp. believe that CLUST SPACE will become a real support for Kyiv students and a place of effective interaction between business and creative youth. This space can become a place for the formation of a new generation of Ukrainian leaders and a place where great ideas and unique innovations will be born and realized" adds Timur Turlov, investor and CEO of the international investment holding Freedom Holding Corp.
During the event, the chief architect of the space, Pavlo Packer, gave a tour to the guests spoke in detail about the unique design solutions. Also, as part of the official opening of CLUST SPACE, a panel discussion "Smart money. How can Ukraine to make a technological leap. The role of business, government and education".
Among the speakers were:
● Michael Zgurovsky, Rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
● Denys Kurbatov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine
● Inna Maliukova, Head of the Sikorsky Challenge
● Yuriy Kryvosheya, Vice President of the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, Managing Partner of Toronto-Kyiv, co-founder of Yakaboo, Chairman of the Supervisory Board "Promprylad.Renovation"
● Oleksiy Shaldenko, Ph.D., CEO/Co-founder of Wantent, Associate Professor of the Department of Digital
Technologies in Energy at KPI
● Natalia Kushnerska, Head of DEFENCE-TECH cluster at Brave1.
The cross-cutting theme of the panel discussion was the importance of cooperation between the state, the educational sector and business to ensure comfortable conditions for the education and upbringing of the younger generation that will restore Ukraine's economy after the victory and create
innovative startups with Ukrainian roots.
The initiators of the project emphasized that they plan to scale the CLUST SPACE project to other regions of Ukraine and are looking for partners to implement their plans.
The next space is planned to be built at O. Honchar State University and has already attracted
the first $100,000 from KPI graduate and IT entrepreneur Mykhailo Savchenko.