Convermax has a long-term tradition of supporting the local IT community, and this year wasn’t an exception. Our CEO Alex Sherbachev participated in the expert committee at the Youth Scientists and Innovators Competition “UMNIK” (an acronym that roughly translates as “Prodigy”).

This year, competition quickly adapted to the new conditions during a global pandemic. Two preliminary stages of the contest took place online. In addition, the final event was held with a smaller number of participants and was offline.

Alex found several projects interesting and promising. The first one was regarding the development of the automated software and hardware complex for the detection of products’ defects and their sorting during mass production. The other one, called “SportTrainer,” is especially relevant to the current time. It’s a system of video analytics and personal recommendations for sports activities based on artificial intelligence technologies.

At the end of the event, the expert committee formed a list of projects that will be sent to The Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in Science and Technology. In February 2021, this foundation will announce the winners. Each of the young entrepreneurs will receive $6,500 in equity-free cash to help them make their innovative ideas into working businesses.