Hack Your Way into ITMO: Enroll Exam-Free With DevWeek Hackathon

A total of 77 Master’s and Bachelor’s students from St. Petersburg, Moscow and Moscow Oblast, Primorsky Krai, Bashkortostan, and Belarus joined the hackathon. All of them specialize in AI, databases, computer networks, software development, and other topics within IT. 

To kick off the event, students had several lectures from companies that offer joint Master’s programs with ITMO’s Institute of Applied Computer Science – Alfa-Bank, Gazprom Neft, Samolet, and YADRO. Polina Polunina, the head of efficiency and AI implementation methodology at Alfa-Bank, talked about increasing the efficiency of AI and ML models, while Mikhail Salamatov, the head of educational programs development at YADRO, shared his advice on where else to store information apart from servers. Another lecture was given by Sergey Zavelishko, the head of AI products at Samolet-Plus, who walked students through assembling MVPs and quickly testing hypotheses.

“75% of Master’s programs at the institute are implemented with industrial partners. For us, their involvement in the educational process is important because they know what kind of experts are needed on the market and help us train high-profile specialists with focused skills. DevWeek became a wonderful extension of this partnership. On the hackathon’s first day, the representatives of our partners demonstrated what kinds of problems the industry tackles and shared a few real-life cases. In the course of DevWeek, our partners also provided mentors who were helping participants turn their ideas into projects. Some of the projects have turned out so well-developed that our partners are planning to put them into production. For the institute, this hackathon is an opportunity to showcase our capacities and attract strong applicants; and for students, it’s a competition where they can show their skills and potentially get into a Master’s program,” says Vladimir Itsykson, the main organizer of the hackathon and an associate professor at the Institute of Applied Computer Science.

Over the course of a week, 18 teams supported by mentors worked on 11 cases from Alfa-Bank, Gazprom Neft, Samolet, YADRO, ITMO’s Institute of Applied Computer Science, Gazprom Media Holding, and Chulakov. In the end, experts evaluated the level and complexity of each solution, as well as the technologies used and the final presentation. 

“All teams had a high level of training – within a short time frame, the participants succeeded in solving real-world business tasks and demonstrated a high proficiency in AI tools. I was particularly impressed with the quality of their presentations: the solutions were not only implemented on a technical level, but also substantiated in terms of their benefits to business. This demonstrates to me the students’ motivation and engagement,” adds Anna Zhaleiko, the head of advanced analytics projects at Alfa-Bank. “This year, we are launching a new Master’s program that will teach students to increase the efficiency of businesses and implement advanced analytics tools. Alfa-Bank views this hackathon as not just a competition, but an opportunity to dive into the world of future AI leaders. Such hackathons allow us to see in action those who are ready to tackle cases now.”

The teams overfitters (query-based search for similar videos without relying on metadata) and The One Market (an AI training tool for real estate salespeople) became the runners-up of DevWeek. Alfa-Bank representatives have also noted the service for predicting clients’ revenue suggested by the team AlphaCode. The team The True Musketeers won the hackathon, having developed a neural network that can detect AI-generated text with a 94% accuracy. 

“I dedicate a lot of my time to machine learning – I read books, take courses, and join hackathons. So, I’ve already accumulated enough experience to continue growing on my own, but I lack the knowledge and skills in selecting success criteria for IT projects, team management, and attracting investments. That’s why I’ve got my eyes on the ITMO & Alfa-Bank Master’s program in AI product management – in it, I will be able to acquire the lacking skills and experience to be able to occupy a team lead position in ML when I graduate. When my friends and I saw an announcement that DevWeek hackathon winners can get into ITMO based on an interview, we immediately assembled a team and applied,” shared Vladimir Skvortsov, a member of the winning team The True Musketeers and a fourth-year student at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. 

ITMO’s Institute of Applied Computer Science currently offers 12 Master’s programs. After the hackathon, four teams (runners-up and the winner) got the opportunity to enroll in one of the four programs implemented with a partner company: Software Engineering (Gazprom Neft), Tools for Software Development and Analysis (YADRO), IT Team Lead (Samolet), and AI Product Management (Alfa-Bank). In order to enroll in the program of their choice, students will have to pass an interview – and secure a letter of recommendation from the head of the program.