Mathematics is the driving force of love, justice, and progress. Mediamax and Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) are joining efforts to present MathArt project. It tells about the talents developing Mathematics in Armenia, and their work.

Mathematics is of key value in modern world and we hope that MathArt will help attract Armenian youngsters into that particular science.

It took 4 years for Artavazd Minasyan to move from physics to mathematics.

Artavazd has had a keen interest in natural sciences since school, and when it was time to choose a profession he decided to apply to the Faculty of Physics of Yerevan State University in order to better master his favorite subjects.

“After getting my Bachelor’s degree and while applying for Master’s, I realized that accuracy was probably the most important thing and decided to do my MD and PhD in mathematics. I did my Bachelor’s degree in theoretical physics and have worked for about 6 months in that direction. Theoretical physics is the closest to mathematics but often it’s not very accurate. This is why I decided to put physics aside and move to pure mathematics, where everything is much more accurate and logically built,” says Artavazd.

Mathematics opens doors into the big world

The advantage of mathematics is that it has a more logical, axiomatic foundation, whereas in physics theories are often built on experimental data. Physics more often has a practical significance, whereas in mathematics the abstract prevails.

While doing my Master’s degree I mainly focused on real analysis and trigonometric series. My thesis was dedicated to Walsh generalized systems. My supervisor Martin Grigoryan has got numerous works dedicated to this topic and I was greatly inspired by it. Besides, Armenia is famous for its scientific works on real analysis.

Artavazd Minasyan Photo: Mediamax

While working in programming I used to think that I’ve had my input into learning mathematics and working in that direction, but I was not using my knowledge and my experience, except for mathematical logic.

Two years ago we had an idea to open a start-up using machine learning methods: to create noise-cancelling software which mutes the background noise during phone calls. This is where my mathematical education was put into use. Many fellow mathematicians have joined us. A great team of mathematicians has come together and within a year we created an algorithm which is currently the best in the world and guarantees the success of our startup.

Conquer the world with mathematics

Our company- the 2hz, created an app called Krisp. It allows making calls via any software, muting the background noise and leaving only the human speech.

Photo: Mediamax

The research began two years ago and the company was set up a year ago. There are 30 people on the team. We received $ 2mln in investments from Silicon Valley last year. The app was launched two months ago. It is available for MacBook users and already has got over 20 thousand users. The app is free since it is in a test mode yet. Is has gained a lot of interest internationally. Foreign companies and magazines have learned about us, and the app was voted the product of the day, the week and the month on Product Hunt. Krisp was recently voted as the Product of the Year in Audio and Voice Category in 2018 on Product Hunt. It is probably the first Armenian technological product that has become such a huge success on that website. Actually, our mathematical algorithm lies in the basis of all of this. Thus, business and mathematical education became interconnected. I had a chance to unite the math education, my knowledge and also my mathematician friends around a startup product that many people need.

Competitive results following good education

There is a huge opportunity in Armenia in terms of creating internationally recognized competitive products, and it should be done with the knowledge of theoretical mathematics and physics. We have the culture, the knowledge and the school based on which people become excellent mathematicians and physicists. With some basic programming skills, we create products that change the boundaries between mathematics, physics and programming worldwide, and this is the most demanded part of science nowadays- artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Armenia has got a huge potential in this regard because there are few other countries that have so many specialists working in fundamental sciences. This is a real chance for Armenia to become competitive.

Artavazd Minasyan Photo: Mediamax

Our startup is a good example of such success. Based on human knowledge and using some programming skills, it took us only a year to write the algorithm and a year to launch the business and create the product. And we have succeeded. I think there will be many more such startups in Armenia.

When supply meets demand

Mathematical education and logic form a wide world outlook and create a ground for accessing any other sphere. I think if greater number of people study fundamental mathematics in Armenia, it will finally lead to industrial development.

I would like for the faculties of mathematics and physics of Armenian universities to have more students so that fundamental sciences in the country develop further. We are trying to have our own input into this too.

The Faculty of Mathematics of Yerevan State University has launched a new program- Data Science. We have contributed to the financing of the laboratory. We also allocate scholarships to students and our experts are going to teach within the framework of that program.

We also cooperate with the American University of Armenia.

This might be considered as a good point where supply meets demand. When the co-founders of our company came together and began thinking about expanding our staff, we realized that we needed dozens, not hundreds of scientists. It is quite natural that we tried to render assistance to that faculty, since the staff we need comes from there.

Artavazd Minasyan Photo: Mediamax

We have had another experience of business-science cooperation. A year ago we implemented a 3-month project with the Institute of Mathematics of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. We have set the objective that required deep mathematical knowledge, and they managed to provide us with a prototype of an algorithm which we have easily turned into a product.

The mechanism of ecosystem and the shortest path

The ecosystem of this sector functions well in Armenia. Artificial intelligence and machine learning specialists meet from time to time to discuss things and exchange experience. When we have problems we often discuss them with other companies’ experts and find solutions.

I think this direction is the shortest way for Armenia to gain competitive advantage. Nothing hinders its development- neither the closed borders, nor the war situation. We have an intellectual base, but business opportunities should be created as well, so that we can formulate the idea, create products and export them to international markets.

Artavazd Minasyan Photo: Mediamax

We should begin with investing into education, and the results will be visible shortly afterwards. Some countries even have ministries of intellectual intelligence, and I think the state should get more involved and try to support this sector as much as possible.

FAST Foundation is the general partner of the project

Mari Taryan

Photos: Emin Aristakesyan