Mike Apyshkov (Михайло Апишков / Михаил Апышков / Миша) was born on May 27, 1990, and left this world far too soon on January 28, 2017.
Mike was a highly dynamic and intelligent person who was an entrepreneur and inventor. Mike was a cofounder and executive of Eikoncraft, a U.S./Ukrainian/Russian company that focuses upon design and technical development projects. Mike cofounded Eikoncraft along with his long-time friend, Artem Starchenko. By the time of Mike's passing, the company had grown to about 27 personnel.
Mike grew up near Donetsk, Ukraine, and excelled in mathmatics and other topics. He attended the Donetsk National University and competed in the International Mathmatics Competition, where he placed very favorably. Mike had a brief college internship at the famous Art Lebedev Studio in Moscow (Студия Артемия Лебедева). He graduated with a Master's Degree in Mathmatics, and minored in Kinesiology.
Mike could best be described as a Renaissance man. He was well-versed in the sciences, arts, math, and computer science. Mike took great joy in inventing things, and in providing high-quality development that would amaze people. His projects ranged from highly creative 3-D animation sequences, to designing puzzle-like toys, logos, beautiful websites, and programming bots to automatically play online multiplayer games. In collaboration with Dmitriy Dlyasin, Mike was awarded an honorable mention in the coveted Red Dot Design Award for their "Link Playground" concept -- a minimalist bodyweight workout equipment structure. Beyond intellectual pursuits, Mike also worked to develop his body, and he spent time mastering various gymnastics moves, and he enjoyed doing some Parkour. Mike enjoyed helping to organize "City Quest" games which are a sort of mixture of scavenger hunt, intellectual puzzle-solving, and Parkour course. Mike was also fluent in English, and held dual citizenship in Ukraine and the United States.
Mike travelled to and worked in the United States, spending time in Dallas, Texas, and Los Angeles, California.
Mike was a humorous, kind, and creative person who made friends wherever he went, and constantly challenged himself to grow more in every dimension of his life! He will be very sorely missed.
Mike was survived by his mother, Olga Apyshkova, his father, Vlad Gutnyk, his stepmother Carole, his brother, Peter Gutnyk, his grandparents, and too many friends to list.
If you knew Mike Apyshkov, please share a tribute note below, or go under the "Stories" tab and write a brief story about something you remember from your relationship with Mike.
Tributes
Leave a tributehttp://www.nodalbits.com/bits/mike-apyshkov-reflections/
Rest in peace, Mike.
Leave a Tribute
http://www.nodalbits.com/bits/mike-apyshkov-reflections/
Rest in peace, Mike.
Mike's VK.com Profile
I tried to locate this information shortly after Mike passed away, but he seemed to have deleted his profile or account at VK at some point earlier. I dug a little deeper into internet history today, and was able to find the information. I also provide it with the Google Translate version in English.
I don't think there are any big surprises in Mike's profile information, but it is interesting, and there are some things that I was unaware of, or which I had not recalled about that he liked.
Still missed on the 3rd anniversary of Mike's passing
His dramatic passing caused disruption to many people in many different ways. But, I tend to remember more and more his other qualities -- his incredible intellectual abilities, seemingly effortlessly used on any of his projects; his enjoyment of acrobatics; and his desire to always make people's eyes shoot open in amazement!
But, it's his sense of humor that seems to characterize who he was most, and it is that quality that I remember about him increasingly when I think about him.
If you visit here today to remember Mike, I urge you to focus on his brightness that is reflected in virtually every photograph of him. And leave while remembering one of his jokes or pranks! I think if he saw us with sorrowful faces he would try to break us out of such a mood by cracking a joke or two!
I'll add a few more photos today that different people sent to me and which I somehow neglected to add to this memorial before.
Rest in peace, Mike.
Немного о школьной жизни
Мы учились в одном классе. За период школьных лет я ниразу не помню, чтобы он кого-нибудь обидел. В школе учителя в Мише души не чаяли, они его обожали и отправляли на все олимпиады, какие только проходили. Помню на урок рисования классе во втором или третьем мы рисовали девушку-зиму и он мне показывал овал лица, тонко нанесенный кисточкой, будто нарисованный гелевой ручкой, его это сильно удивляло. Как-то раз учительница математики поставила его в угол, он стал согнул ногу в колене и стоял то на одной ноге то на другой, сказал, что ему так удобно, она сказала, что он себя плохо ведет. Классе в шестом у него была навязчивая идея научиться шевелить ушами (больше получалось морщить лоб), не знаю научился, но желание было большое. Помню, на перемене Миша нашел себе занятие, положить руку на парту растопырить пальцы и попадать между пальцами карандашом. За пару дней он научился делать это очень быстро, скорость была потрясающая. Я бы точно себе палец пробила. Когда в классе проходила контрольная работа по математике учительница садила Мишу к себе за стол, чтобы он никому не помагал. Во втором классе он уже умел складывать и вычитать трехзначные числа. В третьем классе мы писали диктант и в нем фигурировало слово "земля", он спросил учительницу - земля как почва или как планета? Я сначала не поняла, позже вспомнила что это влияет на то с большой буквы писать это слово или с маленькой. Многие дети начинали учиться на отлично потом спускались на обычный уровень. Миша был не такой, его динамичное развитие достигало огромных успехов. Помню он рассказывал, что приходил домой и вместо того, чтобы идти гулять решал задачи. Возможно когда-нибудь он смог бы объять необятное. Действительно навсегда нереализованный ... И это очень печально!