January 27 16:43
Young inventors from the Krasnoyarsk Territory visited the IMAKE Camp winter scientific and technological camp on the territory of Skoltech University in Moscow.
This camp is part of Norilsk Nickel’s IMAKE Engineering Marathon. It helps engage children in invention and scientific creativity. The marathon starts in September with an introduction to the project. In November, educational intensives begin, and in winter, the most talented go to a camp for 7 days.
This year, IMAKE Camp was attended by 57 schoolchildren from Norilsk, Monchegorsk, Zapolyarny, Chita and other cities where the mining and metallurgical company operates. For comparison, previously only 30 inventors aged 10 to 17 were selected to participate in the program.
“During the shift, schoolchildren improve their inventive thinking, participate in brainstorming and team sessions, develop ideas for their inventions, learn how to correctly write grant applications, and master 3D modeling and programming. The children were treated to technological and educational master classes, fascinating lectures, real defense of their projects, work with mentors, educational and gaming formats, and team intellectual competitions. For example, on one of the days of the camp, schoolchildren responded to requests from the youngest makers from Norilsk at the age of 7-8 years. In a few hours, fulfilling requests from young customers in FabLab, the makers created a robotic pancake maker, a boat with legs for analyzing water bodies, a device for folding clothes and heated gloves,” say Norilsk Nickel.
The topic of the session was communication as one of the skills of the future. The organizers noted that it is not enough to come up with something new; it is important to be able to explain the value of the invention and find the possibility of implementing the idea. Therefore, it was important for schoolchildren to receive advice from the director of Norilsk Nickel’s social policy department, Irina Zhuikova, Skoltech’s vice president for strategic partnerships, Alexey Sitnikov, and experts in the field of technology and invention.
Children learned to use different communication channels – assignments were sent to them via digital platforms, letters, telegrams, as well as calls and messages. Particular attention was paid to networking – participants learned to present their ideas, collect feedback, work with the audience and design their projects in the format of prototypes, presentations, 3D models and even filmstrips.
The fact that the shift participants were placed in mixed teams consisting of people from different regions also helped strengthen communication skills. Mentors, graduates of the IMAKE project from previous years, helped them get comfortable.
The IMAKE Camp events don't end there. In the spring, there will be a shift for makers at the Ocean Children's Center in Vladivostok. The participants will be 100 of the best young inventors in the country, 50 of them will be engaged in the PowerTech training program. Another 50 schoolchildren will be selected based on the results of an open competition for the best innovative idea/invention.
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