Petrozavodsk State University hosted an award ceremony for winners of the contest for the best innovative project under the program "UMNIK", which was attended by V. Ulich, the Deputy Head of Karelia on Social Affairs.

Valentina Ulich said: "UMNIK has become a brand of Karelia. Its contestants are presenting more pressing topics of not only scientific but also practical value and social orientation. It is very important. Young scientists and entrepreneurs who are engaged in project work are the golden fund of the republic and Russia that we are proud of and that will allow us to develop, promote and maintain today’s status and level of Petrozavodsk State University and Karelia. Congratulations to all the participants on the fact that they underwent very serious selection. In this contest all are winners."

In only two days there had been submitted 47 projects of Petrozavodsk State University, institutes of the Karelian Research Centre of RAS, enterprises of Segezha, Kostomuksha, Kondopoga, Petrozavodsk and Kaliningrad, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. The selection of projects was carried out in two stages. A total of 108 applications were submitted, which is twice the number of applications last year.

Of the 47 shortlisted projects the jury selected 15 winners of the autumn competitive selection of 2015:

Oleg Vakulenko - "Development of an underwater camera-based feed drop sensor";

Darya Varganova - "Development of multimineral dietary food supplements for correction of elemental imbalance of the Republic of Karelia’s population";

Anastasia Vorohobova - "Development of technologies for determining human emotional state";

Elena Gulyaeva - "Evaluation of environmental violations in the intertidal zone of the Holarctic seas based on vegetation parameters';

Lyudmila Dvornikova - "Development of technology of cultivation of the Onega salmon as a new item of aquaculture";

Andrey Dorozhenko - "Development of a new algorithm for the treatment of chronic pain syndrome";

Svetlana Komendatenko - "Development of a circular stereoview system capable of real-time detection of surrounding objects and measurement of the distance to them";

Mikhail Kuzmin - "Developing a mobile application that allows building routes within buildings and enclosed spaces";

Christina Marcinkiewicz - "Development of a heart rate variability analysis system";

Ksenya Nikerova - "Method for diagnosing abnormal wood of some tree species";

Artem Popov - "The development of composite material from byproducts of timber industry complex and its production technology";

Ivan Rigoev - "The development of technology for the creation of super-hard anti-friction coatings based on AlMgB14”;

Aleksandr Rodionov - "Development of technology for non-destructive testing of destruction areas of asphalt concrete pavement on the basis of electromagnetic diagnostics";

Zakhar Slukovsky - "Development of remediation technology for degraded lands in industrial and urbanized areas with sapropelic raw materials of Karelia";

Anastasia Shipovskaya - "Development of screening complex for detecting nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in patients with obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS)."

According to the Head of Mission of the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in the scientific and technical sphere in Karelia professor I. Shegelman, in the competition the contestants were to prove that their project was the best, "Science and innovations were presented at the highest level. We congratulate all. All participants have the right to improve their qualifications through various courses. Good luck!"

Economic Adviser of FASIE A. Sorokin addressed the participants: "Today there are no losers. Participants in the program fought for examination of projects, met people and shared experiences and information. I ask the winners not to stop there. You have received the status of a winner of the federal program. It will be useful in other development institutions. This is very significant. Go ahead."

T. Volkov, director of the Institute of High Biomedical Technologies of PetrSU, deputy chairman of the "UMNIK" jury, said: "Participation in the competition is very prestigious. As members of the advisory council, we hope that those projects that did not win will be further elaborated to return next season. Do not miss this time and the chance to participate in such projects. Thanks to all the organizers for creating the kind of atmosphere in the advisory council. It is very interesting here and I’m always happy to come here. Not only do participants presenting their projects learn something new, but also members of the advisory council sometimes discover incredible things for themselves."

And here's what the winners of "UMNIK" said:

Daria Varganova, Petrozavodsk State University Medical School: "The topic of my project is "Development of multimineral dietary food supplements for correction of elemental imbalance of the Republic of Karelia’s population." My victory in the competition is certainly not only my achievement, but also that of all members of the department which I was lucky to work with. Now we will put all efforts into the successful implementation of the project!"

Zahar Slukovsky, Institute of Geology, Karelian Research Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences: "The project is called "Development of remediation technology for degraded lands in industrial and urbanized areas with sapropelic raw materials of Karelia". Experts say that sapropel business is money out of the mud, which our region is very rich in, but it must be properly extracted, processed, and put on the market demand. Thus, this technology will bring benefits to the environment and the economy."

Mikhail Kuzmin, Faculty of Mathematics and Information Technologies of Petrozavodsk State University: "The topic of my project is "Developing a mobile application that allows building routes within buildings and enclosed spaces". My application will allow determining approximate location in the room without having to install additional sensors in the room."

Svetlana Komendatenko, physical-technical faculty of Petrozavodsk State University: "I presented a project entitled "Development of a circular stereoview system capable of real-time detection of surrounding objects and measurement of the distance to them". Such technology would be particularly useful and relevant for unmanned aerial vehicles such as quadrocopters."