School Students from 34 Countries Take Part in the First International Software Engineering Olympiad PROD

© HSE University

The award ceremony for the winners and runners-up of the first International Software Engineering Olympiad PROD took place in Moscow. It was attended by over 4,000 high school students from all Russian regions and 33 other countries, including Armenia, Brazil, Germany, Georgia, Denmark, Israel, Indonesia, China, Congo, Laos, Liberia, the USA, South Korea, and Japan.

This year, the competition officially became international and was held in both Russian and English for the very first time. It was organised by T-Technologies Group (parent company of T-Bank) and Central University in partnership with the HSE Faculty of Computer Science.

The PROD competition helps school students to dive into the developer’s profession even before entering university. This year, more than 12,000 applications from 64 countries were submitted for the event.

Of the best students from Russia, Belarus, India, Kyrgyzstan, the USA, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, 337 were qualified for the final stage of the competition. The finals were held in Moscow from March 13–18.

© HSE University

Over the course of five days, the finalists developed full-fledged IT products as part of teams. PROD’s final stage included such cases as:

 a dating service with matchmaking based on a person’s lifestyle and habits in the T-Bank app;

 the overhaul of an existing social network for a different customer, using the Pulse social network for investors as an example;

 a service for monitoring news and channels mentioning a specific brand;

 an AI tool for fast modelling of user interfaces;

 a personal cash-back wizard for T-Bank clients;

 an interactive multi-player card game;

an AI assistant for platforms with API.

Over 100 practicing experts from T-Bank, Yandex, Avito, Sber, and Alfa-Bank, as well as experienced teachers from Central University and HSE University, worked with the participants of the competition finals.

Twenty-two school students from 12 Russian cities won this year’s competition.

The award ceremony took place on March 18 at the HSE Cultural Centre.

PROD winners and runners-up received guaranteed grants covering up to 100% of the Central University’s tuition fees, a discount of up to 90% on the joint HSE University—Central University Bachelor’s Programme, and the right to simplified selection for an internship at T-Bank.

During the last academic year, 121 PROD participants entered Central University, while 55 winners and runners-up completed or are undergoing an internship at T-Bank; 10 of them successfully completed their internship and now work on the company’s staff.

Ivan Arzhantsev

© HSE University

‘HSE University organises and co-organises many olympiads and competitions, but the international PROD competition is an extraordinary event,’ said Ivan Arzhantsev, Dean of the HSE Faculty of Computer Science. ‘There is nothing like it, and there definitely won’t be anything similar in the near future. Copying PROD is very difficult; it is top level. From my experience, projects are run with enthusiasm in the first year, as the new idea encourages the participants. The second year is more of a challenge: they have already experienced and felt everything, but they need to maintain a decent level. In the third year, the project reaches a plateau, and a new idea is always needed to boost its development.

This year, becoming international was this new idea needed for the PROD competition. Thanks to this decision, a record number of participants from 64 countries registered. I’m glad everything worked out! I hope this project will continue to have new ideas, development, and new participants. And of course, we wholeheartedly invite all the finalists to the HSE Faculty of Computer Science. I believe we will get along well.’

Varvara Smirnova

© HSE University

‘Three years ago, I had the chance to closely participate in creating the international PROD competition,’ said T-Education Director Varvara Smirnova. ‘Today you can see how the competitions themselves have scaled up and how former participants have grown— they now develop tasks for it as part of the T-Bank team. Perhaps in a year’s time, some of today’s finalists will work with us.’

Varvara Smirnova reflected on the moment of realisation that everything had worked out: ‘In my opinion, real success lies in the ability to keep focused and believe in your idea. Every day you need to pour all of your heart and energy into the area in which you truly believe, and to push forward to develop in this field. You should explore different approaches, look for something new. I would like to wish that all the finalists experience this moment and understand that worthwhile projects do not come out at the first attempt, sometimes not even at the tenth one. Try to find pleasure in what you do and keep focused on the work you truly enjoy.’

Ivan Stelmakh

‘At Central University, we think a lot about how professions change and who we need to train,’ said Ivan Stelmakh, Product Director at Central University. ‘Over the past 20–30 years, the IT industry has undergone a major transformation. From versatile engineers who created first search engines and social media in small teams, we have moved on to the hyper-specialisation era. Now products are created by teams with dozens of people, and each of them makes their own small contribution. The advent of AI is changing the game rules again: the boundaries between professions get blurred—now the demand is not for just a mere expert, but rather a specialist able to dive into related fields and see the product as a whole.’ Ivan Stelmakh called the PROD International Olympiad visionary: ‘It is definitely in line with this trend, because here small teams work together on serious business tasks, sharing responsibility for the overall result. I envy all the participants, because they are gaining essential experience in building an IT career while still at school.’

PROD has finished, and now its participants need to move on, the Central University product director believes. ‘Wherever you study, three things are important to build a successful career. First, always keep an eye on what is happening in related professional areas. The competition helped you understand how important and interesting it is to work in cross-functional teams. The second component is finding your people. Build true friendship and a strong community around you right now. And the most important thing is the love of your work. Any technical nuance can be offset by a passion for what you create. At Central University, we combine these principles with the fundamental basis to create the curriculum. Relying on them, we do everything necessary to ensure that every student finds their superpower, whether it is science, a career in the industry, or their own business. Do not hesitate to try new things and look for something that you will truly love!’