Participants of the business incubation program at Zhangir Khan University Business Incubator — graduate students Darya Baytymova, Aruzhan Iskakova, Erman Akmurzayev, and Dias Kuzembaev — took part in the MakerSpace Residents program, aimed at developing young leaders in the STEAM field.
The program is supported by the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Kazakhstan and Chevron, providing participants with unique opportunities to develop their innovative ideas, acquire project management and entrepreneurship skills, as well as access funding and scaling for the best projects.
During the program, participants learned the fundamentals of project management, assessed potential risks and limitations, and familiarized themselves with modern artificial intelligence tools that enhance work efficiency and improve presentation quality. Additionally, the teams developed concepts for their projects, defined goals, and outlined strategies for further development.
At the final stage of the program, the team of graduate students from Zhangir Khan University won 1st place and was awarded a grant of 100,000 tenge to implement their own project “Eco-Design Sprint: Sustainable Design and BIM Technologies.” The project aims to conduct a series of master classes and mini-hackathons to promote the principles of sustainable design and the implementation of BIM technologies in architecture and engineering.
According to Gulshat Ayesheva and Zhanylzyn Dzhigildieva, specialists from the Department of Science and Technology Commercialization, student participation in such programs is a crucial element in developing practical competencies, entrepreneurial thinking, and an innovative culture. This contributes to the development of the university’s innovation ecosystem and strengthens its position as a center for training future leaders and technology solution developers. The MakerSpace Residents program is aimed at developing the creative and engineering potential of youth. The involvement of the university’s graduate students in this initiative confirms the high level of their training and their commitment to introducing innovations into the scientific process at Zhangir Khan University. The victory of the team and the grant award represent a significant result of the systematic work of the business incubator and another step toward actively involving young people in innovation and entrepreneurial activities.
