Research

Clean, safe water is perhaps one of the most critical resources that humanity has. A key element in ensuring its availability is wastewater treatment – which, somewhat ironically, requires sorbents which, too, can pollute the environment. Recently, a team of researchers from ITMO has developed an affordable and eco-friendly new sorbent type that seeks to solve that issue. What’s more, the material can be re-used several (up to three) times before being discarded.

Read more: Highly Efficient & Eco-Friendly Sorbent for Wastewater Treatment Developed at ITMO University

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The robotics market is blowing up and, it seems, there’s hardly a limit to the possibilities it may offer us. Delivery, research, entertainment – robots can do it all, apparently! Last week, ITMO.NEWS spoke to professor Ivan Borisov about the field of AI robotics: what it’s all about, how it’s changing the robotics game, and which innovations we should expect to see in the near future. 

Read more: Higher, Faster, Stronger: How AI Makes Robots Smarter and More Efficient

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The field of biomedicine is a deeply fascinating one. Just consider this: specialists are using fluorescent microparticles to look deep into the human body and analyze health metrics through minimally invasive methods. And thanks to a recent study by researchers from ITMO and its two partner institutions, this technology has been further improved. The scientists used a combination of nanocrystals to create a less toxic and more resilient material.

Read more: New Technology for Drug- and Enzyme-Delivery Fluorescent Microparticles Suggested at ITMO

University

You may recall our report on an advanced AI model that was trained by ITMO staff to produce designs of construction sites in the Arctic Circle. Now, the technology is moving closer to home: in a new educational module co-developed by ITMO and Rocket Group, students will learn to use the company’s rTIM platform to devise urban development scenarios with the help of artificial intelligence.

Read more: ITMO Students to Apply Generative AI in Territorial Development Modeling

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Cars made of bamboo – no, that’s not a fever dream, but our reality. Plant-based composites are a light, resilient, and eco-friendly material for everything from Mercedes-Benz cars to food packaging and anything in between. We recently interviewed Dr. Mohammad Jawaid, a speaker at ITMO’s BIOCON conference, about his 15 years of experience with the subject and the technology’s wide range of applications.

Read more: Not Just Carbon-Fiber: Researcher Mohammad Jawaid on Plant-Based Composites and Their Prospects

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In our previous roundup, we shared with you the details of two out of three tracks within the upcoming I Am a Professional contest for prospective students. Now, it’s time for the final track – Programming & Information Technologies. Check out our FAQ via the link below and don’t forget to sign up: the deadline is November 12!

Read more: I Am a Professional Contest: Programming & Information Technologies Track FAQ

Science and the city

Here at ITMO.NEWS, we never tire of singing praises to our city’s vast architectural heritage. But how do masterpieces of the past align with new lighting technologies? Should lighting designers respect the vision of the masters of yore – or allow our perception of these monuments to evolve in step with the times? At last month’s international forum Light for Humans, experts debated this topic – and we took down the keynotes.

Read more: In a New Light: Designing Lighting for Architectural Monuments

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Until now, the only way for lovers of both science and St. Petersburg to profess their adoration of these two subjects was to pop by the ITMO STORE. However, a project school in scientific souvenir design, organized by ITMO’s Center for Science Communication, has yielded impressive results: eight young designers from all over Russia have created stylish, memorable, and even sometimes cutesy designs on subjects ranging from Pavlov’s dogs to Mendeleev’s table of elements. Now, the winners will get the chance to turn their designs into actual merch – and we can’t wait to get our hands on some!

Read more: Not Just Sphinxes and the Hermitage: Scientific Symbol of St. Petersburg Selected