I’ve always enjoyed making things more than just using them. In my last year of school, I went to a career fair and met teams building software across the Urals — that was when I realized I wanted to do the same.

I chose Computer Science at UrFU because the university was in the middle of an IT transformation, with new labs and young professors. It felt like the kind of place where I could try everything — and I did. Here are some of the projects I worked on:

Smart Home Blinds

A device that opens and closes blinds via voice command, a mobile app, or a set schedule.

I built it end-to-end: mechanical design, electronics, circuit schematics, 3D modeling and 3D printing for custom parts, and firmware. Voice control runs through a custom skill for Yandex Smart Home, which connects the device to Alice, Yandex’s voice assistant.

Hackathons

From my first year, I took part in numerous hackathons — both software and hardware tracks. In the very first month of university, our team won a prize at a Yandex hackathon, building another smart home device controlled by Yandex’s voice assistant.

Then came another prize at the next hackathon, then a trip to another city for another one. Overall, during my BSc, I participated in around 10 hackathons.