Search by tag «Interviews with graduates» 28 results

• Gamedev Leader at Lesta Games Shares His Path From Programming to Gamedev

  As a university student, Danila Lychkin went from a programmer at a Moscow-based company to a  team lead at an international corporation but ultimately decided to quit his job to pursue gamedev instead. Now, he heads the gamedev department at Lesta Games and oversees the production of World of Warships. In this interview, the former programmer weighs in on how to quit everything to chase after your dreams – and succeed.

  10.08.2023

• Head of Product Management at VK Cloud Viktor Konoplev on Career in IT and the Future of Cloud Technologies

  After his graduation from ITMO, Viktor Konoplev had the chance to work on a virtual dedicated server (VDS) for the IT company Timeweb, launch various delivery options at VkusVill (a Russian food retail chain – Ed.), and build a private multipurpose cloud service at VK Cloud. In this interview, Viktor, who is currently developing IT solutions for business at VK, speaks about his first failures, win-win solutions for businesses and teams, and the future of cloud technologies.

  02.08.2023

• ITMO Graduate Alexandra Vasilyeva Shares Her Journey From Journalist to Science Communicator

  Alexandra Vasilyeva enjoyed writing essays in school so much that she eventually decided to pursue a career in journalism. It was so until she came across one book that completely shook up her professional plans and helped her see science in a brand new light. Now, the graduate of ITMO’s Science Communication Master’s program works at the European University at St. Petersburg where she helps researchers promote their studies. In this article, Alexandra talks about how she became a science writer, editor, and communicator.

  27.04.2022

• ITMO Graduate Daria Yakovleva on Building a Career in IT, Working at VK, and Launching NFT Startup

  Daria Yakovleva got her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from ITMO and is now a PhD student at the Information Technologies and Programming Faculty. Her career in IT began during her Master's studies with an internship in Silicon Valley and becoming a team lead at VK. Recently, Daria launched her own NFT startup that has already won the international hackathon by Algorand and was named best in its cohort at ITMO Accelerator. In this interview, we asked Daria about finding her purpose and why she left a corporate job behind to focus on her startup. 

  14.04.2022

• “Don’t Wait Till Someone Notices You” – ITMO Graduate Andrey Guk on Building a Career and Reaching Your Goals

  Andrey Guk started working at OBIT, the federal company behind the biggest free Wi-Fi network in St. Petersburg, as a sales manager, then gradually rising to the positions of business director and CEO. Over the years, together with his team he brought to life many ambitious projects, including making Peterhof the first public park in Europe to offer free internet access to its visitors. We asked him what’s behind his success and how to make smart career decisions – read on, to find out his answers. 

  04.04.2022

• ITMO Graduates Mikhail Kakanov and Alexei Ovcharov on Why They Decided to Pursue their PhDs

  Mikhail and Alexei became friends when they were Master’s students at ITMO’s Faculty of Control Systems and Robotics. They worked jointly on various projects, shared their ideas and thoughts, helped each other with calculations, and then both decided to stay in the world of academia and get their PhDs at their alma mater. Now, they develop new approaches to robot control and implement other projects, including ones in collaboration with major companies. ITMO.NEWS talked to the students to learn more about their research and reasons for doing science.

  18.03.2022

• ITMO Graduate Alexey Feskov on Going From the Industry to Art & Science

  Alexey Feskov graduated from ITMO University almost ten years ago. After he received his diploma, he got a chance to work on several projects at Russia’s major companies Sberbank and Gazprom before he decided to change his career and come back to his alma mater. Now, Alexey is the technical director of ITMO’s Art & Science Center where his team managed to develop a brand new exhibition space for the works of Art & Science students and renowned contemporary artists. ITMO.NEWS talked to Alexey to learn more about how he found his niche, why he decided to quit his corporate job to start a creative one instead, and how different skills can make a great combo.

  03.03.2022

• ITMO Alumnus Ilya Lazerson on Why Chefs Should Have Higher Education

  Today, Ilya Lazerson is one of the most prominent chefs in St. Petersburg and Russia. He worked with owners of world-class restaurants in Europe, published numerous cookbooks, hosted more than one TV show, and joined the Eda (Food) TV channel. These days, Ilya is also a famous YouTube blogger with over a million subscribers. He became interested in cooking when he was fifteen years old and in the 90s, he graduated from the Leningrad Technological Institute of Refrigeration Industry (currently, part of ITMO’s School of Biotechnology and Cryogenic Systems). ITMO.NEWS talked to the star chef to learn more about his student years and media presence, as well as what he thinks about the current foodtech trends and the importance of university education for chefs.

  01.12.2021

• Top Russian Manager Alexander Zverev on His Career in Yandex and Ways to Inspire Students

  Alexander Zverev, an ITMO graduate and the head of Business Development at Yandex.Verticals, was ranked among the top 1,000 Russian managers in the Online Platforms category. Every year, the Russian Managers Association and newspaper Kommersant conduct expert voting to award the best professionals across the country. ITMO.NEWS talked to Alexander to learn more about his career path, what differs Yandex from other companies, and what traits and skills modern graduates should work on.

  12.11.2021

• ITMO Graduate Alexey Ivanov on Life and Work in Silicon Valley

  Having moved to the United States ten years ago, Alexey Ivanov is now a principal engineer at Dropbox. ITMO.NEWS talked to the ITMO graduate to learn more about what difficulties he faced when moving to a new country, how much IT specialists earn in Silicon Valley, and how different business cultures in Russia and abroad are.

  24.08.2021