The All-Russian school TIM-Championship of SPbGASU is held annually for 8-11-grade pupils and is addressed to those who plan to enroll in educational institutions in the following fields of study: Civil Engineering, Information Systems and Technologies, Applied Informatics, Heat-Power Engineering and Heating Engineering, and Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures.
This year, 85 schoolchildren from 17 regions took part in the qualifying round - remotely using distance learning technologies. 36 of them were admitted to the final stage, the opening of which took place today, 26 March, at the SPbGASU Educational Center for Digital Competence.
"The Olympiad is aimed at developing students' creative abilities and interest in research, engineering, technical, and inventive activities, at the professional orientation of schoolchildren, and the promotion of scientific knowledge. The tasks go beyond the school curriculum, which allows us to assess the intellectual development of students, promote the development of gifted children, and increase their motivation for in-depth study of technical disciplines. In addition, in this way we popularize the educational programs of SPbGASU in order to accept motivated applicants, and form the pool of the university's students from the most capable and prepared to master the main professional educational programs of higher education," explained Inna Sukhanova, a member of the organizing committee and director of the SPbGASU Educational Center for Digital Competence.
She specified that the industrial partner of TIM-Championship – the company OOO RL Proekt – provided a set of drawings of a ready-made solution of an individual two-story residential building without a basement, with a parking lot. Participants will have to correctly understand the drawings and, in accordance with the prescribed task, create a digital information model of this building strictly according to all the drawings.
One day is allotted for completing the tasks. Tomorrow, a competent jury, which includes employees of specialized departments of SPbGASU and leading experts in the relevant fields of knowledge and professional activity, will begin its work. The winners will be determined based on the results of the individual competition in each age category on 28 March. Their award ceremony will take place on 25 April as part of the VIII International Scientific and Practical Conference "Information Modeling in Construction and Architecture" (BIMAC-2025).
Deputy Director for Experimental Work at Secondary School No. 255 in the Admiralteisky District of St Petersburg Marita Yarmolinskaya noted that the TIM-Championship of SPbGASU is only one of the activities that are provided to the school as a participant in the TIM-Classes of SPbGASU project. She considers the project itself to be very important for schoolchildren, since it is an effective method of career guidance and familiarization with a new interesting industry that is actively developing today.
"We are making a lot of efforts to involve children in this project. In fact, the percentage of schoolchildren who want to choose technical specialties for themselves in the future is much higher than the share of those who plan to do so in the eighth or ninth grades. Practice shows that at first, many dream of the so-called fashionable industries, for example, blogging. But in the final grade, they realize the need for a practical specialty and enter technical universities. We see our task in introducing children to engineering and technical specialties as early as possible, so that the choice of further education is conscious. The TIM-classes project is very helpful in this," explained Marita Yarmolinskaya.
She added that this year the most important thing for them is participation and acquisition of initial experience in solving tasks of such level and volume, since the students are first-year students. Last year, already experienced students received two diplomas: third degree and a diploma in the nomination "Architect-Innovator".
