AlmaU held a ceremony to celebrate and summarize the results of the first corporate UMAIA Wellness Challenge, which brought university employees together around the idea of an active and healthy lifestyle.
UMAIA is an innovative mobile application developed by AlmaU lecturer Alua Zenurainovna Mussralina with the support of the AlmaU SDG Center, the School of Digital Technologies and Economics, and AI HUB. The project is being implemented as part of the AlmaU Employee Wellbeing Program and aims to promote a culture of health, encourage conscious lifestyle choices, and strengthen the university’s corporate community.
The key feature of the application is that every step taken by a user is converted into Nur, the platform’s internal digital currency. The accumulated points motivate participants to stay active, monitor their well-being, and adopt healthier habits. In addition to competitions, the app provides personalized health risk assessments, lifestyle improvement recommendations, and tools for building sustainable healthy habits.
Throughout the May challenge, participants achieved impressive results, demonstrating that even small daily efforts can lead to significant changes. Many employees not only increased their level of physical activity but also inspired colleagues through their own example. Over the course of the month, participants took daily steps toward better well-being, turning physical activity into a valuable habit while competing for top positions on the leaderboard.
Employees also had the opportunity to hear inspiring stories about healthy habit formation and active lifestyles from Assel Aryn, Vice Rector for Academic Development at AlmaU, and Nuriya Hasanova, Creative Project Manager. Their experiences highlighted how consistency, discipline, and self-care contribute to both personal and professional success.
The highlight of the project was the awards ceremony honoring the challenge winners:
• 1st Place – Daulet Sabyr, Director of the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Industry
• 2nd Place – Bolatkhan Beisembiev, Senior Lecturer at the Tolyq Adam Institute
• 3rd Place – Raushan Sadykova, Deputy Dean for Research and Commercialization, School of Digital Technologies and Economics
• 3rd Place – Meruert Temirkhan, Financial Analytics Manager, Graduate School of Business
All winners surpassed 200,000 steps during the month, demonstrating outstanding engagement, discipline, and commitment to healthy living principles.
The event also provided an opportunity to review the interim results of the AlmaU Employee Wellbeing Program. As part of the initiative, the university has already organized sessions on healthy nutrition and financial literacy. These activities are designed to improve employees’ quality of life and support their physical, emotional, and financial well-being.
The program concluded with a presentation of new initiatives for university staff. Kamran Guseynov, Director of the Institute of International Relations, introduced an upcoming corporate cyber tournament that will further contribute to the development of AlmaU’s corporate culture and community engagement.
The UMAIA project continues to evolve. The June challenge has introduced new health indicators, including movement speed and sleep quality, enabling participants to monitor their well-being more comprehensively and develop healthier habits. Today, UMAIA is more than just an application – it is a wellbeing ecosystem that empowers AlmaU employees to make conscious choices in favor of health, activity, and a higher quality of life.