Russia names Inventor of the Year winners after more than 2,000 applications
Russia's fourth national Inventor of the Year competition recognized 67 winners and prize recipients from 31 regions at Moscow's Atom museum. The 14 November ceremony brought together Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov, with a presidential greeting read to the participants.
More than 2,000 applications came from all Russian federal districts and four foreign countries. Chernyshenko said the youngest applicant was nine and the oldest 91. Universities and research organizations accounted for 43.9 percent of applications, while more than 45 percent of entrants were younger than 35.
The grand prix went to Alexey Ivlyushkin, general director and chief designer of scientific-production company Alfa-M, for an object-tracking method covered by patent No. 2796096. Stanislav Shcherbachenko, a deputy head of the company's scientific and technical documentation division, accepted the award on his behalf. The top prize included a certificate for one million rubles.
The ministry describes the invention as a way to detect and recognize ground and airborne objects and maintain tracking of at least six targets despite interference, partial obstruction or sharp changes in image brightness and size. It says the method reduces loss of tracking and is used in equipment that can protect civilian critical infrastructure such as refineries and warehouses. These are the ministry's descriptions of the technology, not an independent performance test.
Chernyshenko emphasized industrial and technological capabilities and also singled out inventions serving security, defence and participants in Russia's war effort. The competition's official account puts the economic effect of implementing entrants' developments at more than five billion rubles. That figure is an official assessment, not sales revenue earned by every prize winner.
School pupils had a separate category for the first time and submitted about 100 applications. Foreign citizens holding intellectual-property protection valid in Russia could also enter for the first time; applicants used that route from Azerbaijan, Belarus, India and Kyrgyzstan. Moscow, Bashkortostan, St Petersburg and Tatarstan submitted the most applications among Russian regions.
Production equipment and automation, new materials and chemistry, and health-preserving technologies attracted the most interest. The awards covered the grand prix, inventor, rationalizer and mentor categories. Inventor entries were assessed across nine technology directions and separate inventor and young-inventor groups; winners of the other nominations received certificates for 200,000 rubles. Falkov presented the mentor award and stressed the role of engineering mentors.
The annual contest began in 2023. It is organized by the ministry and the All-Russian Society of Inventors and Rationalizers, with support from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute during Russia's Decade of Science and Technology. Society chairman Vladimir Kononov said the aim is to turn patents into implemented technologies and competitive products, with a stronger regional organization by 2030. An award recognizes the judged entry; commercial adoption remains a further task.