Andrey Boyarintsev and Aleksandra Zybtseva

While still studying for a master's degree at SPbGASU Department of Geotechnics, Aleksandra Zybtseva took part in the competition of the Foundation for the Promotion of Innovation under the UMNIK program for students studying in educational institutions of higher education in Russia in bachelor's, specialist's, master's or PhD programs. Today Aleksandra is the owner of a grant in the amount of 500 thousand rubles. and a project manager in a design company.

The theme of the winning project is “Development of a means for measuring the temperature of permafrost soil based on composite materials.” This development involves the use of composite materials in a device for temperature measurements of frozen soils, which helps reduce the influence of various steel elements, which are most often used in traditional devices, on the measured temperature values.

“The grant holder must create a prototype of this product, obtain a patent for it and submit documents for registration of a limited liability company, which will subsequently commercialize the innovative product created under the program,” explained the senior lecturer at the SPbGASU Department of Geotechnics, scientific advisor of the master’s student Andrey Boyarintsev.

In 2019, he also won this competition, which allowed him to conduct additional research and patent inventions. This project was developed as part of scientific research in the PhD school, so Andrey Boyarintsev successfully passed his defense and received the PhD degree. It should be noted that his work was recognized as the best by the expert council of the Higher Attestation Commission in his specialty.

“Our students help me conduct experiments and translate articles. Aleksandra Zybtseva was among the most interested. She came to the department in her third year. Under my guidance, over the years of study, Aleksandra won several grants from SPbGASU, which helped her gain experience in competitions, preparing reports, and public speaking,” Andrey Boyarintsev shared his experience.

He explained that during the tests, an idea was formed for one new device for measuring soil temperature. Aleksandra developed this idea so much that she decided to try her hand at the Innovation Promotion Foundation competition. “I’m glad that the project was awarded such a high award, and I hope that the startup gets off to a successful start!” – Andrey Boyarintsev summed up.