The BestRoboFest is annually held with the support of NGO "Association Noosphere" and its Сo-founder Max Polyakov

Max Polyakov is the BestRoboFest initiator, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist

Key Facts about Scientific and Entrepreneurial Work

Max Polyakov is a philanthropist, the co-founder of the NGO “Association Noosphere”, a managing partner of the Noosphere Ventures investment fund, an international space technology and IT entrepreneur. He has authored more than 30 scientific papers in the field of knowledge-based economics and co-authored a dozen US patents. In 2013, he received a Ph.D in International Economics, and in 2019 he received a professional doctorate degree in Economic Sciences.

Dr. Polyakov's scientific pursuits formed the basis of his strategic development of technological projects, including space technology. He founded EOSDA, a company that analyzes satellite data, and Firefly Aerospace, a launch vehicle developer.

Max Polyakov is the co-founder of the NGO Association Noosphere

Noosphere Model and the Maker Movement

Max Polyakov embodies the philosophical wisdom of Volodymyr Vernadsky's concept of the Noosphere in his business and social activities. As a doctor of economics, he understands that fundamental knowledge is a key resource for the development of society, and technological innovation is the driving force.

Dr. Polyakov and his scientific school are advancing a functional model of the noosphere to solve both theoretical and practical problems. One of the goals of the school is to boost the importance of engineering professions in Ukraine, to encourage the younger generation toward making, technical creativity, and building as a successful STEM career.

Makers are enthusiasts whose hallmarks are ingenuity and a desire to create. They are interested in programming, electronics, robots, new computing platforms.

Making is not just a hobby, but a course for full-fledged engineering startups and investment attractiveness

Max Polyakov, Co-founder, NGO "Association Noosphere"

The United States is the birthplace of the modern maker movement. In 2005, the popular magazine Make was published in the USA. A year later, they also hosted the first Maker Faire festival. In Singapore, making is studied in schools and universities. Italy is considered to be home of the Arduino hardware platform. The Raspberry PI single-board computer and the RepRap 3D printer were invented in Britain.

Each year, events are held worldwide where inventors present their developments. Ukrainians can join the maker movement thanks to the initiatives of NGO "Association Noosphere", the public organization founded by Max Polyakov.

NGO "Association Noosphere" - A place for Engineering and Technology Events

NGO "Association Noosphere" is a Ukrainian public organization. Its purpose is to encourage research, generate scientific knowledge, and stimulate societal interest in engineering, technology, and space.

NGO "Association Noosphere" holds annual scientific and recreational events for the community. They coordinate the BestRoboFest robotics festival, the engineering startup competition Vernadsky Challenge, and the NASA Space Apps Challenge Dnipro space hackathon. Participants in these events present their engineering projects to experts, receive advice and mentoring support, and potentially receive further operating grants.

Among the experts found at NGO "Association Noosphere" engineering competitions are: Jamie Hyneman - a robot designer and co-host of the MythBusters television series (a Vernadsky Challenge 2017 judge); Arthur M. Dula - founder of private spaceflight company Excalibur Almaz and Space Lawyer (Noosphere Space Summit speaker and Vernadsky Challenge 2019 judge); Dmitry Sholomko - CEO of Google Ukraine (supporter of Vernadsky Challenge and judge from 2015 to 2017); John Isella - Director of Business Development, Firefly Aerospace (Noosphere Space Summit speaker). Each year NGO "Association Noosphere" judging panel is headed by its co-founders Max Polyakov and Michael Ryabokon.

BestRoboFest - Maker Festival in Dnipro - One of Ukraine’s Largest

In 2016, NGO "Association Noosphere" hosted the first BestRoboFest - a technology-themed family picnic-style festival. Since 2018, the event has become more specialized, with scientific and engineering workshops and young engineer robot competitions being the festival’s key activities.

The BestRoboFest program is updated annually, but the spectacular robot battles remain at the heart of the festival. Teams from all over Ukraine have repeatedly demonstrated their developments in the main types of competitions: Robo Race - the robot follows the black line as quickly as possible; Robo Sumo - robots push opposing robots out of the white line of the ring; Robo Maze - robots traverse autonomously through a maze in the shortest possible time; FreeStyle - technical robot projects competition. The judges of the BestRoboFest robotics competition are mentors of the Noosphere Engineering School robotics laboratory.

The winning teams in the competition receive valuable prizes and grants from NGO "Association Noosphere" founder, Max Polyakov.

I see genuine interest and admiration in the children who participate in BestRoboFest, which we organize in Dnipro. The ability to make your own robot can grow from a childhood passion into a lifelong profession. We hold the festival with this conviction. Our goal is to introduce as many young people as possible to the world of technical development, to inspire us all to create new ideas and to constantly grow. In organizing the first BestRoboFest, we are actually pioneers in Ukraine. The number of such events is increasing each day. In this way, NGO "Association Noosphere" successfully fulfills its mission to popularize technical sciences and specialties

Max Polyakov, Co-founder, NGO "Association Noosphere"