The National Polytechnic University of Armenia successfully launched and held the “Innovative Business Ideas” competition, which was implemented within the framework of the Erasmus+ “Learn, Innovate, Sell, Succeed” (LISS24) program. The initiative brought together creative teams of students and pupils, whose goal was to present to the public business projects containing innovative solutions applicable in the modern market.
The competition stage was preceded by specialized thematic courses, during which participants had the opportunity to train and deepen their knowledge in three key areas: creative thinking, comprehensive business impact assessment and business modeling. This preparatory stage was of fundamental importance for the participants, providing the theoretical and practical base necessary to generate competitive ideas.
The courses were organized exclusively in an applied format, which allowed the participants to conduct a thorough market analysis and formulate their own ideas through group work. Particular attention was paid to assessing the feasibility of projects, bringing them into line with modern entrepreneurial requirements and market dynamics, which was the main result indicator of the competition.
Gor Martirosyan, Director of the Center for Labor Market Research and Professional Career: “The main goal of this competition is to form the students’ abilities not only to generate ideas, but also to make them applicable in the market. We used training and game methods so that participants could develop practical thinking, be able to correctly assess the viability of their idea and effectively present it to investors or partners. It is important for them to understand that an idea has value only when it can solve a real problem and find its place in the market.”
The first place went to the “Perseus” project, which involves the development of a new generation development board. It is a multifunctional electronic device designed for programmers and engineers to quickly test, develop and verify various ideas. The device includes a microcontroller, power supply system, connection ports and communication modules, which allows for a wide range of applications. The team members are David Lanjuni, a student of the M 510 academic group, and Lilit Afrikyan, a student of the IT 538 academic group.
The second-place team presented the “Air Purification Station” project. It is based on the principle of ionization and is aimed at significantly reducing construction and operation costs, while ensuring high efficiency. According to preliminary calculations, the station is able to purify up to 30 thousand cubic meters of air per hour. The team includes Levon Soghomonyan, a student of the EE 334 academic group, Arayik Karapetyan, a student of the IT 361 group, and Mariam Ghambaryan, a student of the EE 306 group.
In total, 5 teams participated in the competition, represented by 12 students from different institutes and faculties of the National University of Science and Technology.
The winning teams will receive a unique opportunity to travel to Georgia to participate in an international competition jointly held with students from the program's partner universities. This platform will provide young innovators with the opportunity to present their ideas to a wide international professional audience.