UrFU Students Took All the Prizes at the Regional Stage of "Abilimpiks" Contest

10:51, April 19, 2023

12 participants defended their entrepreneurship projects

The Multifunctional Resource Center of Educational Activities of the Ural Federal University hosted the regional stage of the National Contest of Vocational Skills for people with special needs "Abilimpix". For the first time in the history of the contest all the prizes in the field of "Entrepreneurship" were won by the UrFU students. This year 12 participants successfully defended their projects.

For several years the Ural Federal University has been the venue of the Entrepreneurship Contest for students and specialists with special needs. This time, the participants again presented their projects based on previously prepared business plans and demonstrated them to the jury.

"We see Abilimpix as an entry point for people with special needs into entrepreneurship and self-employment, and we are ready to help implement competitive projects," said Lyudmila Koryakova, Chief Entrepreneurship Expert.

The jury consisted of active entrepreneurs - members of the committee for the development of social entrepreneurship of the Sverdlovsk regional branch "Opora Russia", as well as employees of "Sberbank" and the Ekaterinburg Employment Center. Each participant received an evaluation and expert recommendations for his project. Boris Bredikhin, the winner of the "Specialists" category, was offered an interview for the role of expert and software engineer in the project of "Sberbank".

"Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to speak. I'm sure everyone would have liked to tell a bit more about their project and to spend more time with the experts. There's so much to tell! I spent a lot of time and effort preparing, but it was a pleasure for me because the contest task is related to my specialty, and my project is closely connected with my favorite hobby - creating video content," said Alexander Slepukhin, the first place winner, a fifth-year student of Public Relations and Advertising. 

The second place went to Polina Bilalova, a fourth-year student of the UrFU Institute of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy in the field of Physical Education for People with Special Needs (Adapted Physical Education).

"Participating in "Abilimpex" brought me great pleasure, a new great experience that will certainly strengthen my faith in the future. I would also like to mention the incredibly cozy and warm atmosphere that prevailed during the contest. It was very valuable to see the work of talented and creative people and to hear the opinion of experts. The main things that united everyone were a sincere smile, a spark of excitement in their eyes, and a desire to grow," said third-place winner, second-year student Ksenia Volkova of the Phycology program.

The first place in the "Specialists" category was also won by Boris Bredikhin, a first-year master's student in the field of human-machine interaction in information systems at the Ural Federal University.

"There were interesting competitors and projects. I gained positive experience and new acquaintances. I thank my opponents for the interesting fight, as well as the experts and the organizers of the contest," said Boris Bredikhin.

In addition, Alexander Slepukhin and Boris Bredikhin will visit Moscow to participate in the All-Russian stage of the contest.

Reference 

Abilympics is an international non-profit movement. It originated in Japan and has developed worldwide since 1971. The movement organizes professional skill contests for people with special needs at the age of 14 and above. In Russia, professional skill competitions for people with special needs have been organized since 2014. The competition is held in more than 60 skills for students and young professionals, as well as for pupils.

The news article was translated by UrFU International Marketing Office. 
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