At the beginning of April, the Scientific and Technical Library of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute hosted a friendly game of What? Where? When?, organized by the student association ESTIEM LG Kyiv. True to its "friendly" format, the event focused not on fierce competition for prizes but on intellectual enjoyment, teamwork, and creating a lively atmosphere in which participants could challenge themselves while having fun.
Background: ESTIEM LG Kyiv is the local group of ESTIEM (European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management), an international student organization that brings together students interested in management, engineering, and leadership development. It is part of a broad international network comprising 76 local groups across 26 European countries. Since 2012, ESTIEM LG Kyiv has united students of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute to foster leadership skills, create new opportunities, and develop collaborative initiatives. The organization hosts educational events, engineering and management case-study competitions, training sessions, networking events, and a variety of interactive activities that help participants grow both personally and professionally.
Participants in the "What? Where? When?" intellectual event were challenged to demonstrate logical thinking, teamwork, and the ability to make quick decisions. Students eager to test their knowledge formed teams and, within a limited time, worked together to answer questions of varying difficulty. In total, 56 students took part, forming 14 teams.
Speaking to Kyiv Polytechnic, ESTIEM LG Kyiv President Nikita Korol shared insights into how the event was organized:
"To ensure that as many people as possible learned about our event, ESTIEM's PR team worked intensively on promoting it through social media. Thanks to these efforts, we sparked interest in the format and attracted creative, intellectually curious students to participate.
The questions were prepared by our Round Development Team. Its members reviewed more than 20 quizzes from around the world to select the most engaging questions. Here are three examples that were presented to the teams during the game:
- Imagine the following situation: a man walks into a bar and asks for a glass of water. The bartender pulls out a gun and fires a shot into the ceiling. The man says, "Thank you," and leaves. What happened?
- The tradition of shaking hands dates back thousands of years. Beyond being a greeting, what was the original practical purpose of this gesture?
- The famous French writer Guy de Maupassant hated the Eiffel Tower, calling it 'an ugly skeleton.' Yet he had lunch every day in the restaurant inside the tower. How did he explain this?"
(Editor's note: Try answering these questions yourself before checking the solutions at the end of the article.)
The competition consisted of three intensive rounds, including quick-fire questions, visual puzzles, and a word-building challenge that tested participants' vocabulary. It was a true intellectual contest in which every point mattered and each round reshuffled the leaderboard, keeping the suspense alive until the very end.
First place, along with a certificate, KPI merchandise, and a small gift from the local group, went to the team Polina with 40 points. Second place was awarded to Debate Club, which scored 35.5 points and received a certificate and a small gift. Third place went to the creatively named team Kompashka, which earned 34 points and also received a gift from ESTIEM LG Kyiv.
The organizers also expressed their gratitude to the Trade Union Committee of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute for its assistance with the operational aspects of the event.
"We plan to continue organizing similar initiatives, expanding opportunities for students and strengthening cooperation with ESTIEM local groups in other countries. Follow our social media channels to stay informed about upcoming events. One of the next activities will be the recruitment of new members to ESTIEM LG Kyiv.
Contact: +38 (099) 276-68-61 — Project Manager Dmytro Drahulin."
P.S. The correct answers to the questions are:
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