On December 4, NSTU - NETI presented the program for the creation and development of the advanced engineering school of NSTU NETI "Unmanned and manned aviation systems". The meeting of the Council on Grants for State Support was chaired by Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education.
The University team was represented by the Governor of the Novosibirsk region Andrey Travnikov, Rector of NSTU NETI, Anatoly Bataev, Vice-rector for Academic Affairs of NSTU NETI, Sergey Chernov, Director of the Novosibirsk Aviation Plant named after V. P. Chkalov (branch of PJSC UAC) Sergey Panasenko, General Director of JSC Berdsky Electromechanical Plant (JSC BEMZ) Vasily Yurchenko.
Governor Andrey Travnikov emphasized the high importance of the advanced engineering schools project for the Novosibirsk region. "I don't know how in other regions, we in the Novosibirsk region have felt a strong positive effect from the imposed sanctions. Because the demand for products and the development of Novosibirsk enterprises has increased many times. They are all overloaded with orders. Almost everyone is implementing new investment projects and creating new jobs. New competencies are needed to meet the current need and, most importantly, to support promising developments. The Advanced Engineering Schools project is a universal tool. On the one hand, it is about training personnel with modern competencies, and on the other — about the participation of universities in new developments. It is not surprising that three universities in the Novosibirsk region applied for the AES project at once. They have prepared the applications that are very diverse: communications, aviation, and agrobiosafety. This once again confirms how important this is for our region," the head of the region noted.
He added that he supports three AES projects presented by universities of the Novosibirsk region — NSTU NETI, SibSUTI Sand NGAU, given their importance not only for the economy of our region, but also for fulfilling the tasks of ensuring technological sovereignty.
The advanced engineering school "Unmanned and Manned Aviation Systems" (UMAS) of NSTU NETI is being created in the field of design and production of medium- and heavy-duty aviation systems, which is associated with the huge need for UMAS of this class and few developments in this area. The role of industrial partners, who participate in the work of the supervisory board and laboratories, and provide guidance for educational programs, is extremely important.
The scale of the tasks to be solved, the pool of educational programs, and the content of practical project activities of undergraduates are determined by the composition of partners and the degree of their immersion in the global agenda. The total amount of attracted financing from industrial partners and the Novosibirsk region is more than 900 million rubles, including co—financing from the university - 1.1 billion rubles. The funds raised, as well as the bulk of the requested subsidy, will primarily be used to form the material base of the advanced engineering school. The main results of the work of the NSTU NETI for high-tech enterprises will be the training of specialized high-class engineers and engineering teams, as well as obtaining unique high-tech products for the aircraft industry.
"Aviation is not a new topic for the university. The presence of the Faculty of Aircraft in the structure of the university, as well as dozens of completed projects for the MC-21, MiG-31, TU-204, and 214 aircraft, and the university's participation in the formation of the concept of the scientific and production center of drones - a landmark project of the Novosibirsk region allows us to say with confidence that the ambitious tasks set will be implemented. The universal unmanned vessel "Sarma", a unique hybrid power plant, a range of electric motors for UAVs of different classes, protected radio engineering systems, and control systems — all this is the scientific agenda of the advanced engineering school of NSTU NETI," said Sergey Chernov, head of the NSTU NETI Research Center.
The seven main educational programs of the University, which are focused on scientific research, are distributed in four clusters supervised by industrial partners. The educational process is based on the individual trajectories of students, a project approach within the framework of youth design bureaus, early employment, and an independent assessment of the competencies of students and graduates. The graduation rate for the main educational programs will be at least 500 people, and for vocational education — at least 1,500 people. Candidates for study at the School become students after passing a three-stage selection procedure.
It is planned that at least 35% of the teaching staff will be heads of key departments, leading engineers, chief technologists, and designers of partner enterprises. Mentoring programs will be implemented within the framework of personnel reserve, professional development programs, and regular internships of the teaching staff on the basis of partner enterprises. The main principle of the university's pre-university activities is the creation of a continuous system of engineering education from elementary school within the framework of an aircraft manufacturing cluster previously created in the Novosibirsk Region. The total coverage of schoolchildren by various activities and programs of the University AES will be approximately 1,500 people annually.
Thus, the creation of the advanced engineering school "Unmanned and manned aviation Systems" is designed to multiply the potential of the university in the field of research and development, technology transfer, and the implementation of an effective model of advanced training of engineering personnel for aircraft manufacturing enterprises of the country.