Before joining Skoltech I studied electronics and control systems at Bauman University. I was a member of an international student organization called BEST (Board of European Students of Technology). Several members of BEST, friends of mine, joined Skoltech a year before me. From them, I got to know how cool Skoltech was. At the time it was the best opportunity to get a completely different study experience. Skoltech was just evolving, but already offered a lot more than a traditional university: international environment, highly motivated students and professors, focus on innovation, tons of hands-on experience, and many more. So I didn't hesitate to apply.

The admission process shocked me from the very first minute. It was a completely different admission process from everything I used to know. It took me the whole year to study English (I didn't know it at all at the time) and to pass the TOEFL exam. Then there was Selection Weekend. At the interview, we were asked questions starting from how much fuel we will need to have to reach Mars, ending by prototyping an electronic system on a breadboard within 30 minutes, and all that within a team of applicants who see each other for the first time. It was insane in a good sense. On the very first day of Selection Weekend, I made several good friends with whom we spend together two awesome years in Skoltech.

My typical day looks like a ton of meetings, strategic planning, interviews with potential team members, and so on. Luckily I still participate in system development, but mostly on a system and strategic level. Our company grew from 8 to 80 people within a year and we are still growing quite fast.

Apart from being in charge of the system development, my primary job is to build an outperforming team of engineers where everyone is happy with their place and tasks they are working on. It is the most challenging part of the job. Together with all team members, we are constantly looking for better formats of team meetings, planning, and communication to improve the overall performance and make the work environment more friendly and transparent.

For me, the system engineering approach is the most valuable thing I've learned in Skoltech. Designing a complex system with many links between subsystems is a complex task that needs a particular approach to make everything right and in time. The team projects experience is also a very valuable thing since I learned a lot about working with people, team dynamics, and so on. This is something I use on daily basis. And of course, "hard" skills in math, robotics, modeling are also something I learned in Skoltech which I apply to design autonomous cars nowadays.