STORY: Olin & KSE Team Wins 2026 PIEoneer Awards Partnership of the Year
A multi-year collaboration between Olin College of Engineering and Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) to help shape the future of undergraduate engineering education in Ukraine was named Partnership of the Year at The 2026 PIEoneer Awards on September 4.
Olin faculty Yevgeniya V. Zastavker, professor of physics and education, and Lynn Andrea Stein, professor of computer and cognitive science, are co-leads and facilitators for this partnership.
Olin faculty Yevgeniya V. Zastavker, professor of physics and education, and Alexandra Vacroux, vice president for strategic engagement at Kyiv School of Economics, at the 2026 PIEoneer Awards in London, England on September 4, 2026.
Olin College of Engineering and KSE were named Joint Winners of the Partnership of the Year Award at this year's ceremony.
“As someone born and raised in Kyiv, this partnership is very close to my heart,” says Zastavker. “This has been, from the start, two communities building something together that neither could have built alone—faculty, staff, and students from both institutions, shaping an engineering education grounded in purpose, for a country deciding what its future will be. I am humbled by the courage of our KSE colleagues and students, and grateful beyond words to be walking this road with them, side by side.”
“As someone born and raised in Kyiv, this partnership is very close to my heart,” says Zastavker. “This has been, from the start, two communities building something together that neither could have built alone—faculty, staff, and students from both institutions, shaping an engineering education grounded in purpose, for a country deciding what its future will be."
Zastavker and Alexandra Vacroux, vice president for strategic engagement at KSE, attended the dazzling awards ceremony—sometimes called the ‘Oscars of international education’—at London’s historic Guildhall.
“It was so moving to accept this award with Yevgeniya Zastavker in London, knowing that our first cohort of students had triumphed in their first week of classes, despite constant air raids and trips to the bomb shelter,” says Vacroux. “Needless to say, achievements like this only happen when a talented and focused team comes together to make the magic happen. I am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by wonderful colleagues around the world.”
Attendees of the 2026 PIEoneer Awards stand outside the London Guildhall.
The Award
The PIE is a leading news source in the international education sector; now in their tenth year, The PIEoneer Awards celebrate the people and organizations transforming international education. The Partnership of the Year Award recognizes outstanding collaborations that have achieved notable impact by leveraging complementary strengths to enhance services, expand opportunities, and drive meaningful innovation for international students.
The Partnership
The Olin/KSE partnership began in 2025, when the two schools announced an intensive and long-term collaboration to support the launch of a new undergraduate engineering program in Ukraine. Since the partnership began, faculty, staff, and students across the two institutions have joined forces to shape an undergraduate engineering education unlike any other in Ukraine—one equipping an inaugural class of engineers to become agents of change in a nation simultaneously defending itself and determining what comes next.
KSE’s Delta Engineering program brings together rigorous technical training with interdisciplinary study, human-centered design, entrepreneurship, and learning through collaboration and practice. The program’s name reflects both the transformation its students are poised to drive and the memory of Daria Lopatina, known by the call sign “Delta,” a 19-year-old KSE student who was killed while serving as a combat engineer defending Ukraine.
Congratulations also to Learna and The Harwood Charitable Trust, who co-won the 2026 Partnership of the Year award for their work to remove the financial and geographic barriers that keep healthcare professionals from accessing high-quality postgraduate medical education.