A student of UrFU International Management Program won the international competition of entrepreneurial projects

20:09, December 7, 2020

The international competition of entrepreneurial projects held between 26th November and 4th December within the Russian-Polish Workshops of Entrepreneurial Attitudes in the Era of Modern Technologies ended

On the first day of the competition participants were divided into mixed teams which included students of Ural Federal University and WSB University, the largest group of state-recognized private universities in Poland. A first year student of International Management Master's Program Anait Petrosyan got into the team with three Polish students, and together they developed and defended the business idea. Their project got really high marks from the jury and was declared the winner. 

According to requirements business ideas should be both socially oriented and commercially successful. Anait said they had called the team Sequoia, the same name was for the platform they developed for manufacturers, suppliers and consumers of eco-friendly and sustainable construction materials. 

«As soon as they divided us into teams, we got to work. We had worked on the project for almost a week. The idea was to create a single platform for manufacturers and suppliers of eco-friendly construction materials as well as for consumers who are interested in such materials. A special educational section is supposed to be on the platform. It is a section which would contain structured information for consumers who would like to know how to fit a house or renovate a house using products from a catalog. To defend our idea we conducted a market analysis, developed value propositions and proved the relevance of the project. On the last day of the competition, 4th December, all participants defended their ideas. The jury highly appreciated our project and it was declared the winner», says Anait Petrosyan.

Besides the presentation of entrepreneurial projects the workshops program included lectures by professors from the Ural Federal University and WSB University and famous Polish entrepreneurs. Every day participants listened to lectures about principles of innovative project management and creating innovative ecosystem, learned how to run business effectively at a young age; how to use IT in pandemic or launch promising start-up in the ICT industry.

The Ural Federal University, WSB University and the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding were the organizers. The jury that evaluated students’ projects included 3 representatives from UrFU and 3 representatives from WSB University.

«As a rule such workshops are held regularly but within the cooperation of UrFU and WSB University it was the first one. That’s why it is especially nice to see our first year student among the winners in the competition of international projects. I’m sure studentsacquired a lot of useful skills due to the event. We’re going to organize such international projects more often», says head of the Department of International Economics and Management, InEU UrFU, Prof. Dr. Lyudmila Ruzhanskaya.