By Mushvig Mehdiyev February 12, 2022
A photo from the press conference dedicated to the introduction of TEKNOFEST Azerbaijan Aerospace & Technology Festival, Baku, Azerbaijan, February 7, 2022 / Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s capital city, Baku, will host the TEKNOFEST Azerbaijan Aerospace and Technology Festival this spring, one of the largest events of its kind to be held in the country.
The announcement was made at a press conference on Monday.
TEKNOFEST Azerbaijan will become the first overseas edition of Turkiye’s national technology festival since its launch in 2018. The event will be held on May 26-29 at Crystal Hall sports and concert arena in Baku.
Azerbaijan’s Digital Development and Transport Ministry is now working with the Turkish Technology Team Foundation and the Industry and Technology Ministry of Turkiye to bring the event to the Caspian region.
“TEKNOFEST Azerbaijan will give an impetus to the massive interest of the youth in science, technology [and] innovations,” Azerbaijan’s Digital Development and Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev said at the press conference on Monday.
“On the other hand, it will be an excellent platform for them to practically exercise the knowledge and skills they learned at schools and universities,” he added.
At the same time, Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman of the Board at TEKNOFEST, said TEKNOFEST Azerbaijan would start its journey with ten technology competitions and challenges in its first year.
The challenges reportedly focus on unmanned aerial vehicles, amateur satellite modeling, robotics, as well as agricultural, socially-oriented, and green technologies and sailplanes. This year’s festival will also feature such initiatives as the “Baku Skills” competition in 3D printing, the Take-Off Azerbaijan Startup Summit of startuppers and potential investors, the Smart Karabakh Hackathon for producing smart technology solutions for use in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and Rocket League Esports EuroCup.
The event’s exhibition section will showcase the products and solutions of partner organizations and prototypes and STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) projects developed by young people. In addition, an open-air demonstration of unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters will be held as part of the festival.
The entertainment program of the festival will include exemplary pilot flights of the Azerbaijani Air Force, as well as aerobatic demonstration teams of Turkish Air Force Turkish Stars and Solo Turk. The festival visitors will also have a chance to experience vertical wind tunnels, water attractions, flight simulators, robots, and others.
TEKNOFEST is Turkiye’s first and only aerospace and technology festival, boasting the world’s largest show of technological competitions. Having made its debut in 2018 with 20,000 participants competing in 14 categories, the festival attracted nearly 200,000 competitors in 35 types of technological challenges in 2021.
