Sergey Tokarev: Ukrainian schoolgirls from STEM is FEM create benches to keep people at a safe social distance

At the fifth module of STEM is FEM, there was held a creative contest on the best 3D prototype of a bench that would help keep people at a safe social distance in a city, says Sergey Tokarev, Gen.IT founder, initiator of STEM is FEM, investor and IT businessman.

‘During the previous module, girls developed concepts of robots to fight coronavirus and its consequences,’ Sergey Tokarev recalls the details about the module on robotics. ‘This time, we decided to keep the same social vector of our contest and offered the girls to develop the idea of ​​social distancing. During the module on “3D modeling and printing”, 30 girls from 13 cities of Ukraine learned the basics of creating 3D models of objects. They had only one day to create and show their own ideas. The Grand Prix of the competition went to 14-year-old Iryna Luchin from Ivano-Frankivsk.’

‘This is a bench for two people. There is a place for a hand sanitizer on it. A tree in a pot and dividers ensure a safe distance between people. The bench is called Flora, and this name was chosen for a reason: there are flower pots next to sitting places, a tree growing in the centre, and the back part of the bench replicates natural shapes of plants,’ the winner talks about her project.

The built-in lamp turns the bench into a part of urban lighting. Iryna has also created two more projects that share the same concept. The design of the back sides in both variants is inspired by plant shapes, grass blades and flowers.

‘Iryna’s 3D model is complex and has a perfect shape—the details are neat, aesthetic, rounded and, generally, the shape of the bench is unusual. To create it, Iryna has used complicates, non-basic modelling tools. Many 3D designers do not pay attention to the final smoothing of the shape, while Iryna has gone through with it. This indicates how great her sense of taste is and how diligent she is,’ Olga Sinyakevich, a speaker at the project and a Fabricator Fablab designer, comments Iryna’s project.

At the end of the module, Iryna’s bench was printed as a 1:6 scale model. It was used PLA plastic, a biodegradable material made from processed products of corn, sugarcane, starch, and cellulose.

‘For her concept, the winner will receive a 3D printer that will allow her not only to generate ideas in the future, but also to make them real,’ says Sergey Tokarev. And at the end of quarantine, the girl will be able to take part in one of the major international STEM events.’

The second place and the winner status were shared by Victoria Konashchuk from Kyiv and Nelly Tarapata from the Dnipro. Nelly’s bench concept has solar panels, so at night, it  turns into an autonomous light pole.

STEM is FEM is a charitable educational project aimed to motivate girls to choose their further education and career in STEM-related fields. To reach this goal, the project holds educational modules every two months. Each module is dedicated to one of STEM aspects that may allow the girls to  to make a fully informed choice of their future career.