«Master the art of finding resources»: tips from last year’s winners

We Asked the Winners of the Previous Future Makers: Junior Cup: What Helped You Achieve Such Strong Results? Read their tips and life hacks in our feature.

Egor Semyonov, 19 (in the photo on the left)

Student at Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University

Faculty of Materials Science and Materials Technology

Egor currently lives and studies in Saint Petersburg. As part of the “Ochevidnost” team, he reached the finals of Future Makers: Junior Cup 2025, where the team took 3rd place in the Cities Cup category.

Life Hack #1: It’s Great When You Have Something to Show the Jury

“One of the key factors that 100% helped us win a prize was having a working setup and real research data,” Egor shares.
“When we were developing the project, I went to my university, spoke with a chemistry professor, and we conducted several types of analyses. This gave our work a solid scientific foundation — and it looked very convincing to the experts.

We didn’t bring the setup from Saint Petersburg to Moscow (that wasn’t technically feasible), but we showed a video demonstrating how it worked. That also made a strong impression.

So having real research data and something physical you can clearly demonstrate to the jury will definitely strengthen your project and help it stand out.”

Life Hack #2: Role Distribution

“Role distribution is probably the most useful life hack — not only for competitions, but for life in general,” Egor believes.
“Work on the part of the project you enjoy and are good at. In our project, I acted as the project manager and materials specialist, while my teammates handled the structural design because they are strong engineers and designers.

In short, if you don’t want to spend five years learning something — find someone who already has that expertise and use their skills.”

Life Hack #3: Connections Matter

“This leads to another important life hack — building horizontal connections with specialists from different fields.
Today, many of my friends and contacts are professionals in programming, technology, and design. That’s because I’ve participated in many competitions, attended research programs, and always made an effort to communicate and connect with people.”

Life Hack #4: Know How to Motivate

“Another very important life hack is being charismatic enough — and knowing how to motivate people — so that a team is willing to work without money.

We only received funding after winning the competition. Now we’re planning to apply for a Presidential Grant and other funding opportunities. Before that, we worked purely on enthusiasm and personal resources: using what we already had, finding things ourselves, or getting help from the university.

We invested our time because this competition truly mattered to us. We had a clear goal, genuine interest, and a strong desire to present our project. That motivation helped us keep going.”

Life Hack #5: Learn How to Find Resources

“Speaking of resources,” Egor adds, “this is a very practical life hack — you need to know how to find them. If you don’t have the equipment you need, look for people or organizations that can provide it on a charitable basis or allow you to use it.

For example, we needed a 3D printer. We approached a political organization, told them about the competition, explained why we needed the printer, and how we could later use it to produce humanitarian aid for the Special Military Operation (which we are now doing). They listened to us and purchased the printer.

Resources — people, funding, opportunities — can always be found. This is a skill worth developing. It will definitely be useful not only in competitions, but in life as well.”