DAM: How to build a startup as a student

Can students really build serious companies?
This session shares the real story of two PhD students launching a startup focused on data quality and data processing, turning an idea into a functioning company and building a student-led executive team along the way. We will show how building a startup during university studies can accelerate your skills, expand your network, and give you real-world experience that most graduates only gain years later.
You will also hear directly from student team members in C-level roles about ownership, responsibility, what they had to learn from scratch, and how working on a real company changed their skills, mindset, and career direction.
Through practical insights, real challenges, and lessons learned, the session shows that entrepreneurship does not start with perfect conditions; it starts with initiative.

SPEAKERS:

Miroslav Hennel
Miroslav is the CEO and co-founder of OWASmooth. He is currently a PhD student in Advanced Materials and brings nearly a decade of experience in data processing within physics and sensor R&D. His work focuses on building technologies that transform complex raw data into reliable, high-quality information. Passionate about technology, people, and precision, he believes that high-quality data can create real-world impact and with OWASmooth, he aims to deliver it.

Barbora Hennelová
Barbora is a co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer and COO at OWASmooth. She holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University and also serves as an Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Košice. Her work focuses on applying advanced mathematical methods to real-world data problems and developing innovative approaches to data quality enhancement. Passionate about math, physics, and the art of making sense of messy data.

Lukáš Kollárovič
Lukáš is currently studying computer science at the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice while at the same time working at OWASmooth, helping shape its future both company- and technology-wise. In the past, he has worked as a research intern at the innovations department at Tatra Banka as well as a front-end developer at a software house called Kiuub. He loves to tinker with technology, create systems, and watch them work flawlessly on their own.

Filip Deák
Filip is currently finishing his undergraduate studies at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, where he studies Mathematics and Informatics. In addition, he works as the CTIO at OWASmooth where he combines both fields by transforming mathematical models into fast and secure software solutions.

REGISTRATIONS:

This event is free, but seats are limited, so please book yours by RSVP-ing Yes to this event (click on "Attend").

PARTNERS:

This meetup takes place in the frame of Data Analytics Meetings: https://dam.science.upjs.sk/ The event is kindly sponsored by Kosice IT Valley.