"Smart City Challenge": how Uzhhorod students solved the problems of traffic jams and parking

On Monday, March 30, 2026, the student hackathon "Smart City Challenge" was held at the Uzhhorod National University. The organizers of the event were the Scientific and Research Department of UzhNU, the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, the Faculty of Information Technologies and the Student Scientific Society.

The purpose of the event is to find innovative and digital solutions for the current challenges of modern cities, in particular Uzhgorod, as well as to encourage students to work as a team on real mobility problems.

A total of four teams of enthusiasts took part in intellectual competitions:

 • "Skyline" - students of the Department of Urban Construction and Economy;

• "Solyanka" - collective team of the Student Scientific Society;

• "Fine Legini" - students of the department of information management systems and technologies;

• "Smart Mechanics" - students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology.

The task before the participants became extremely urgent: to develop mechanisms for eliminating traffic jams and chaotic parking in Uzhhorod. Students had to analyze the causes of congestion in the city center and propose solutions based on "smart" traffic management and the development of alternative transport.

Volodymyr Smolanka, rector of UzhNU, opened the hackathon with a welcome speech: "Today we are holding a great event - the Smart City Challenge student hackathon." You will have a task that needs to be solved in a very short time - in just 5 hours. However, knowing your mobility and speed, I'm sure you can handle it. This is a great opportunity to test yourself and your teamwork skills. So, as they say, have some fun — get real pleasure and joy from this process!».

Bohdan Andriyev, the mayor of the city, joined in the opening remarks and emphasized the importance of a fresh perspective of the youth: "It's good that students have such an opportunity to participate in such projects... We sometimes see these processes from our side, but it helps us when someone sees the problems in the city, even as a resident. If these issues are brought to our attention, we will be able to solve them together».

In turn, UzhNU Vice-Rector for Research Ivan Myronyuk noted: "The questions for the city were chosen very well. They are difficult, but together with this there will be a greater value of your efforts. An outsider's opinion and a layman's view often give ideas that later form the basis of state building regulations».

The organizers also urged the participants not to limit their creativity and enjoy the event. The moderator of the event was Kateryna Skubenych, head of the Research Department of UzhNU. She outlined the essence of the problem and announced the task.

In the future, the participants had 5 hours to complete, they had to present their own idea in the form of a presentation and defend their project before the jury, which included: vice-rector for scientific work of UzhNU, doctor of medical sciences, professor Ivan Myronyuk; Head of the Department of Scientific Grant Activities, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor Vitaliy Serzhanov; Head of the Department of Geodesy, Land Management and Geoinformatics of the Faculty of Geography, Candidate of Sciences in Public Administration, Associate Professor Vladyslav Peresolyak; Dean of the Faculty of Geography, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor Ivan Kalynych; head of the commission, director of the humanitarian direction of the Scientific and Educational Institute of Multidisciplinary Research "Smart City", candidate of philological sciences, associate professor Antonina Devitska; Ivan Polovko, leading specialist of the e-learning department of CIT UzhNU.

The teams presented innovative solutions: "Skyline" offered the "UJNAV" application and rotary parking lots; "Solyanka" — "SmartLight" adaptive traffic light system with "green corridors" for special vehicles; "Fine Leggings" - offered the "UZHWAY" application, which provides optimization of public transport and a system of fines with the help of cameras; "Smart Mechanics" is a set of measures that included different school schedules, a smart traffic control system, temporary replacement of traffic directions at peak times, and others. The speeches ended with a discussion of the practical implementation of ideas in the city infrastructure.

After that, the jury summed up the results and in the conclusion the victory was won by the "Smart Mechanics" team.  In the end, the organizers presented all the teams with gifts for their participation and encouraged young people to join similar initiatives.

Valery Melnyk,

Information and publishing center.

• Faculty of Engineering,
• Science,
• Faculty of Information Technologies,
• Information Technology Center