Winners of AFK Sistema Scholarship Competition for MIEM Project Teams Announced
AFK Sistema's scholarship competition for software and hardware projects of the Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM), HSE University, has come to a close. The aim of the competition was to find talented teams of designers in the field of microelectronics among MIEM students. The winners of the competition were awarded personal scholarships.
The competition was held in two stages: the qualifying round and the final round. To take part in the qualifying round, the teams had to prepare presentations of their projects, which were then evaluated by the expert committee. Twelve projects made it to the finals.
AFK Sistema is one of the top 20 largest companies in Russia. Its investment portfolio largely consists of Russian companies from various sectors of the economy, including telecommunications, retail, timber processing, agriculture, high technology, banking, real estate, healthcare services, and the hotel business.
In the final round (which was held online), each team gave a detailed presentation of their project and answered the expert committee’s questions. Specialists from companies operating in the real sector of the economy used their expert knowledge to select the winners. Five out of the final twelve student projects won the competition. All members of the winning teams will be awarded personal scholarships: future undergraduates will receive monthly payments of RUB 20,000 over a 6-month period, while master’s students will receive RUB 35,000 per month over the same period.
The winning projects were:
- ‘Development of a library of macromodels of analogue integrated microchips and discrete elements for general-circuit simulation of hardware’
- ‘Contactless ultrasonic tweezers’
- ‘Mobile power generator based on thermoelectric modules’
- ‘Development of a system for automatic testing of integrated optical microchips’
- ‘Development of electrically conductive inks based on graphene-silver nanoparticles for printed electronics technology’
The members of the winning teams have talked about their developments.
Project: ‘Development of a library of macromodels of analogue integrated microchips and discrete elements for general-circuit simulation of hardware’
Nadezhda Utekhina, second-year master’s student of Electronic Engineering
‘Currently, there are no libraries of general-circuit simulators of Russian electric, electronic and radio products, and the designers of such products do not provide general-circuit simulators. This makes it impossible to design hardware using SPICE-like programs. The availability of domestic component libraries will facilitate and speed up the process of production automation in Russia. Therefore, our project is aimed at creating and developing SPICE macromodels of analogue domestic components. The final goal is to create a library of such models.
The idea was quite simple. We bought some electric and electronic items and began measuring them using MIEM equipment. We measure, plot parameters, and make macromodels to match. Sometimes we lack an understanding of what to do and how, or lack time for the project due to our work. It is also difficult to measure powerful transistors, but we should soon solve this problem thanks to my groupmate Mikhail Tegin.
In the future, we plan to cooperate with companies such as RSC Energia, NPP Pulsar, and other domestic companies. We want to expand the base of macromodels of domestic items and provide manufacturers with macromodels of domestic electric and electronic equipment for general-circuit simulation of equipment in Russia.’
Project: ‘Mobile power generator based on thermoelectric modules'
Alexander Kaliaguin, first-year master’s student of Computer Systems and Networks
'Today, almost everyone needs to use various gadgets and digital technologies. Even on camping trips, when we want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and be close to nature, there is still a need for gadgets: we need them to keep in touch with our families, to access navigation systems, to take pictures. But all portable batteries run out sooner or later, so people need a compact, lightweight power source. This is exactly the kind of device we are developing.
After studying the subject area and existing technologies, we came up with an idea to create our own power generator that meets the needs of hikers. We have carried out preliminary studies. The first prototype of the device is ready, its final testing is completed, and we have had some positive early results—40 W of usable electricity obtained under hiking conditions.
The generator is a device consisting of a heat-exchange unit and control electronics. In order to produce electricity, you need to put the heat exchanger unit into a fire and immerse its pump in the nearest body of water. The casing of the unit begins to heat up from the fire, and the water circulating inside it will cool down the generating modules (Seebeck modules). The temperature difference created on the walls of the modules thus begins to generate electricity, which hikers can use however they want.
The first prototype is heavy and bulky. This goes against the idea of our design, so we plan to reduce the weight and size of the generator, increase its efficiency by improving the control electronics, and reduce the cost of the device by using common parts and optimising production processes.’
Project: ‘Development of a system for automatic testing of integrated optical microchips’
Maxim Olinichenko, second-year master’s student in Materials. Devices. Nonotechology
‘The Skontel laboratory has a facility for studying integrated optical structures with lattice communication elements located on a chip. To date, research into such structures has been done by comparing the fibre array with the structures under investigation using manually controlled piezo motors. The aim of the project is to automate the process using software code. It will reduce the time needed to examine integrated optical microchips, increase productivity, and improve the quality of measurements. The development will be used in production and testing activities by Skontel LLC and TINFOTONIKA LLC.
Last year, we developed a virtual model of a test bench for remote testing of an algorithm designed to find the maximum optical power on a chip. We also designed the algorithm itself. The model was necessary because we were unable to work in the lab due to the pandemic. This year, we improved and optimised the algorithm and wrote a new one to find the coordinates of integrated optical structures using the chip image. We are now combining the algorithms into a single software package. After that, we are going to adapt it to the test bench in the laboratory. Finally, we will perform a series of tests to improve the quality of the algorithms with the control test bench.’
Project: ‘Contactless ultrasonic tweezers’
Petr Trunin, second-year master’s student in Materials. Devices. Nanotechnology
‘The aim of the project is to create contactless ultrasonic tweezers for moving objects up to 8 mm in diameter. The “tweezers” are a bowl with emitters that deliver a 40 kHz sound wave, with a potential pit created at the focal point. This pit is then used to catch the object to move it. We have a prototype that can move low-density objects. If it works out, we can modify the design to include more emitters and thus change the lifting force. Such a tool would be useful for biomedical laboratories.
There are similar designs that can be easily duplicated. However, they haven’t been introduced to the market, as they still lack novelty: the technology relies on an effect discovered long ago, but it is impossible to imagine something new without good implementation. We are now in the process of developing a device to demonstrate the required novelty.
The presentation of our project at AFK Sistema's competition went well. We talked about our plans and received feedback. It is good to receive criticism at the concept and prototype stages, as one can get too focused on details and lose sight of the big picture. Now that we are equipped with new ideas, we can adjust our plans and continue working. Winning such a competition boosts the team's morale, as our project has now been recognised as useful by a team of experts.’
The article was prepared by the HSE MIEM Media Centre.