KSTU teams took top places at the Farwater biohackathon
Yesterday, the final of the 2nd All-Russian Youth Biohackathon, Farwater 2026 – From Aquatic Bioresources to the Bioeconomy, took place. It was held on the sidelines of the Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo Russia.
Nine teams reached the Farwater final, representing regions from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad. The participants presented their projects in the fields of software, aquaculture, food biotechnology and much more.
The biohackathon’s judging panel included V.I. Sokolov, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery; E.P. Masyutkin, Rector of Kerch State Maritime Technological University; K.V. Bandurin, Head of AtlantNIRO; I.B. Bazhanova, Minister of the Agro‑Industrial Complex and Trade of the Arkhangelsk Region; A.A. Khitrov, founder of BIT; and T.V. Puchkova, Board Chair of the Russian Perfumery and Cosmetics Association.
Three research teams from KSTU participated in the hackathon: Familia, Ryapushki v poryadke and Bubble C.
Last year, Ryapushki v Poryadke came third. This time, the project by Yulia Klassen, Ioanna Chugunova and Aleksandra Palukhina was entitled IMTA Modular Intelligent System for the White Sea. The team’s development impressed the jury and sparked a lively discussion. The participants took second place in the Smart Aquaculture and Bioresources of the White Sea category and received a prize of 100,000 roubles.
Students from the Bubble C team—Yulia Shishlo and Olesya Novik—presented the next project. They have developed a sauce containing alginate spheres made from brown seaweed. The project has already been tested in practice, and its economic viability has been assessed. This innovative product, in the form of spheres, impressed the jury and prompted numerous questions. Bubble C won second place in the Deep Processing Technologies track and a prize of 100,000 roubles.
Aleksander Menshenin from the Familia team, a postgraduate student at KSTU, presented the third project. He presented the RYBPROM.365 Year-Round Program — an innovative programme to develop project-based activities for students and young scientists. The Familia team won third place in the Media Promotion and Human Resources for the Bioeconomy track and received a prize of 50,000 roubles.
I.V. Shestakov, Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery, presented the awards to the teams.
Congratulations to our teams on their excellent performance!
