The laboratory with professional equipment for soldering, mounting and modeling of devices has been operating since January 2022 at the Radio Receivers and Radio Transmitters Department of Radio Engineering and Electronics Faculty.
Now, as a part of their project study, students use high-tech soldering and mounting devices, hoods and electrical measuring instrument. All this helps to gain practical skills and facilitates the creation of the most ambitious projects.
Maksim A. Stepanov, the Laboratory Director and the Head of the Radio Receivers and Radio Transmitters Department, told about the current situation and plans for the future:
— The laboratory's main task is to develop students' practical skills. Everything that they had learned at lectures about how different devices look like and work, they can now model in the laboratory and solder themselves.
The professional equipment of the laboratory helps students get various skills: soldering, mounting, determining the nominal values of electronic components, reading a scheme, assembling and adjusting wireless devices. Now, almost any wireless device is assembled in a team, that is why students master both technical skills and teamwork. They learn to assign responsibilities, share knowledge and skills and enjoy the results together.
It takes several years to train a good, high-quality mounter. But even a first-year student in a few weeks of classes in the laboratory will be able to decently solder simple electric circuits, learn to read diagrams and understand why a certain block is needed in a ready-assembled receiver or transmitter.
One of the employer's wishes is that a university graduate would be able to do everything. So, classes in our laboratory bring students closer to this "employer's dream."
Primarily, the laboratory is focused on radio engineering students, but a student from any university faculty can come here and share ideas.
According to Stepanov, such laboratories are in demand at different faculties, and colleagues have already been interested in how all this was assembled at the Radio Engineering and Electronics Faculty and what equipment is required.
"We appreciate the students coming with their projects, tasks, thoughts and encourage them in every possible way. That's why the laboratory is also open during extracurricular time," Mr. Stepanov continues. "I believe that banning or restricting the initiative contradicts the university spirit."
Today, the head of the laboratory task is to maintain comfortable working environment. This also applies to consumables, the stock of which must be constantly maintained, the facilities development and equipment with new additional measuring tools. The Radio Receivers and Radio Transmitters Department is also going to open other laboratories where students will be able to conduct a project study.