The capital attracts with new opportunities and special energy inherent in young rapidly developing megalopolises. It has become the center of attraction for young talents: they go to this beautiful city to gain wings - to open up, to find themselves.
In front of 21-year-old Kudaibergen Urinbayev, the left bank of the capital was transformed, the EXPO pavilions were erected and the international exhibition itself took place. The young man came to study at Nazarbayev University from Aktobe in 2015. At that time, active construction was going on across the street from the campus.
- My window of the hostel overlooked the EXPO area. The "clouds" of construction cranes working day and night resembled giants tirelessly building a new city. It was very interesting to watch this action, - says Kudaibergen. - In general, being a native of a relatively small city, I noticed that Nur-Sultan can sometimes play spatial tricks with you. Walking along the left bank, you might think that, for example, from "Asia-Park" to "Mega" is within easy reach ... And only after an hour of walking, tired, you realize that the distance is much greater. I think that such an illusion arises from the low density of houses and wide roads.
During the 5 years of the student's studies at the university, the city has changed a lot: it acquired its own style - with bold architectural experiments, more parks and squares appeared, a whole forest was planted around the capital ...
Much has happened during this time in the life of Kudaibergen: he managed to meet outstanding people, to participate in the organization of such major IT events as the regional Microsoft DigiGirlz programming workshop, the HackNU republican hackathon. Both events were held under the auspices of the ACM Student Club, a branch of the international community at Nazarbayev University.
- In March 2019, we held a large-scale hackathon for students. As part of the student club, we were able to attract such tech companies as Google, Microsoft, BTSDigital, EPAM as sponsors. Within the walls of Nazarbayev University, 250 participants fought for victory in the areas of development, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, - said Kudaibergen Urinbayev.
A two-day session on programming Arduino microcontrollers was organized in collaboration with Microsoft last summer. The main goal of the event was to interest middle and high school students in IT and development.
Today, Kudaibergen called the most significant event for himself the opportunity to conduct scientific activities under the leadership of the head of the Department of Robotics at Nazarbayev University, founder and director of the Institute of Smart System and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI) Dr. Atakan Varola.
- Working as a researcher at ISSAI, in the laboratory of artificial intelligence at Nazarbayev University, which was founded in September last year, I gained invaluable experience, knowledge, and most importantly - skills in developing, as it might seem a couple of years ago, futuristic systems, - shared Kudaibergen.
In his opinion, the most interesting thing in the work of a researcher is communication with like-minded people. In the laboratory, several studies are simultaneously carried out in different directions, which makes it possible to talk with specialists from different fields of science. And everyone is ready to spend hours with enthusiasm talking about their work. Kudaibergen believes that thanks to communication with such people, you can significantly expand your scientific horizons, learn a lot of interesting and useful information. And general passion becomes a great motivation.
The young scientist also spoke about his developments. So, on the basis of advanced scientific works, a program was written that diagnoses pathologies on X-rays of the chest (for example, with cardiomegaly). Anomalies are detected in the image using color: the warmer it is, the more they spread. This work was supposed to be exhibited at a scientific conference in Montreal, but due to the epidemiological situation in the world, our compatriots will defend the project virtually.
“Our technology is not the only one of its kind. Similar systems based on the use of artificial intelligence are already being implemented throughout the world, and our country is no exception. IBM, in collaboration with five medical universities in Kazakhstan and the Scientific Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology, detect cancer using artificial intelligence, the Silicon Valley company Xlabs is analyzing data to combat coronavirus, '' said Kudaibergen Urinbayev.
The medical software market is actively developing in our country. The young man believes that in order for Kazakhstan to become a flagship in the field of diagnostic technologies, it is necessary, first of all, not only to encourage developers, but also to understand the value and advantage of these technologies. And this, if we turn to the development of Kudaibergen, undoubtedly, is a significant saving in time for reading images by radiologists, providing a second opinion in case of difficult diagnoses, as well as constant availability.
- Since the field of digital processing of medical images is not yet so developed in our country, I would like to try to improve my qualifications abroad. But the idea of participating in the promotion of high technologies in our country is very attractive, - said Kudaibergen Urinbaev.
... Despite the fact that our heroes are engaged in completely different spheres, they are united by the desire to help in the development of their country, to contribute to the future of Kazakhstan - whether it is the popularization of national values abroad or the improvement of new technologies and the development of artificial intelligence.
There will always be many such young people, full of ambitions, aspirations and hopes in Nur-Sultan. The people who live, work, study, look for and acquire a profession, their own path in life make the city unique and attractive. Young talents develop in the same way as our beloved Kazakhstan develops and transforms every year, our capital is a place of attracting talents and making dreams come true.
Natalia Homs