Magnat Intellectual Games Club of ASOIU celebrates 20th anniversary VIDEO
Baku, May 18, AZERTAC
ASOIU’s Magnat Intellectual Games Club celebrated its 20th anniversary at Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU), bringing together generations of ASOIU graduates and Magnat members for one of the country’s largest intellectual community reunions.
The event was opened by ASOIU Rector, Associate professor Rufat Azizov, who highlighted the university’s long-standing support for student initiatives and announced the creation of a special Magnat legacy corner at ASOIU dedicated to the club’s contribution to student leadership and intellectual culture.
“Building anything that lasts 20 years is already a great achievement,” Rector Rufat Azizov noted, thanking all generations who contributed to the organization’s development.
In his keynote speech, Magnat’s Co-Founder and First President Ulvi Rashid shared the original vision behind the Club.
“We wanted high-IQ students not just to discuss people or events, but to discuss ideas,” he said. “Magnat was created as a structured environment for young initiative people eager to develop both IQ and EQ and further increase chances for success in life.”
During the symbolic “Magnaters, Assemble” moment, all ten generations of Magnat presidents, vice presidents, founders, and champions were invited to the stage.
As part of the event, Magnat also announced new directional partnerships with Landau Education Group and Code Academy and shared its updated vision for the future, emphasizing that in the age of artificial intelligence, judgment, communication, and the ability to work with people will become the most valuable human skills.
The anniversary program featured the finals of the university’s interfaculty Brain Ring championship as well as the inaugural Generational Cup hosted by Toghrul Gurbanli. Teams representing four generations of Magnat competed alongside a faculty team. The 2011-2016 generation, led by intellectual games champion Farid Rzayev, emerged victorious.
During fireside chat, distinguished ASOIU and Magnat alumni Vusal Shahverdiyev, Chairman of AFB Bank, and Murad Suleymanov, CFO of PASHA Bank, shared their key life learnings and encouraged students to remain curious, embrace failure, and continuously learn throughout their career.
The evening concluded with video calls from alumni joining from different countries, followed by a jubilee cake-cutting ceremony and networking reception.
Magnat Intellectual Games Club was co-founded in 2006 by Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist Ulvi Rashid, SOCAR HR executive Javid Umbayev, Advisor to CEO of ITV Alexey Ulanov, Formula 1 Chief Marshal and TV personality Lala Babayeva, and serial entrepreneur Ramil Abbakirov. Over the following two decades, the club continued to grow through the contributions of ten successive administrations.
ASOIU Magnat teams became World Champions in the Global Business Challenge by HP in 2007 under the leadership of Azar Ismailov and have since won numerous national championships across various intellectual games. Today, Magnat has more than 2,000 alumni worldwide, including prominent investors, founders, executives, and industry leaders.
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