Ilya Kompasov
Born in Korolyov, a city near Moscow known for being home to the Russian Mission Control Center, Ilya Kompasov dreamed of becoming an astronaut as a child. Instead, he landed at the ZU in 2008 with a master's degree in political science in his pocket and a few years of experience as an associate at CNC Communications in Moscow. After graduation, Ilya Kompasov realized cultural and communication projects for companies and NPOs until joining the Stuttgart-based startup simpleshow as a project manager in 2011. After four exciting years and rapid growth of the company, he took over the management of the freshly founded simpleshow foundation. This non-profit organization promotes free knowledge in the form of Open Education Resources. Since July 2019, Ilya Kompasov lives with his family in Überlingen on Lake Constance and manages the AlumniOffice at ZU.
How did your studies prepare you for what you do today?
"I learned that challenging topics are best mastered playfully. Any issue, no matter how complex, loses its terror when you face it with a smile. Systems are not optimized by admiring how smoothly they run, but by questioning them and never tiring of looking for improvements."
Today, when I look back on my ZU days...
"...I think of art: in a way, every student there is an artist because it's about creating. Economy, thinking, freedom, aesthetics, self-expression - you're given tools and raw materials to create your very own art form and to create your very own life."
