On September 28, a specially decorated train started running in the Novosibirsk Metro. Its exposition is dedicated to the seventy-year history of Novosibirsk State Technical University.
The Metro passengers saw some rare historical photos of the University: the first rector (then his position was called "Director") Andrei Potuzhniy; first students of the university who had to work and study in regular blocks of flats while university buildings were under construction. The exhibition tells about important inventions made in the University. Why did they plan to build NETI in the center of Novosibirsk, but finally built it on the outskirts? How much time did each of the first students have to spend on the construction site of the main academic building? The passengers of the NSTU NETI train will find out the answers to these and other questions.
"We decided to launch a specially decorated train because the history of NETI is closely connected with the Metro. It was precisely the fact that a large university had already been at the place that determined the location of the Metro station "Studencheskaya" This fact once again confirmed the thesis that NSTU NETI is Novosibirsk's mainstay in terms of human capital and research, as well as as an important factor of the territory development," says Anatoly Bataev, NSTU NETI Rector. The official launch of the train took place on September, 28 at the station "Ploshchad Garina-Mikhailovskogo". Novosibirsk city administration and Novosibirsk Museum have jointly prepared the exhibition.
The story of NSTU NETI: The decision to establish NETI was relatively recent by historical standards — August 1950. After the Great Patriotic War the country urgently needed professionals for science and engineering. In the difficult post-war period, industry and the national economy had to be urgently restored. Such industries as energy, metallurgy, machine tool construction, radio engineering, and electronics industry needed highly qualified specialists... To solve this problem, there was a Decree on establishing Novosibirsk Electrotechnical Institute (NETI), which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on August 19, 1950, and signed by Stalin. The decree ordered to finish the construction of the Institute in 1953, the number of students was determined about 2.5—3 thousand people, and classes were to begin on September 1, 1952. At that time, the harvest was just ripening in the endless potato fields on the site of the current NSTU NETI campus. The cost of the first stage of construction was 78 million rubles. Andrey Potuzhniy was appointed as NETI Organizing Director by the order of the Ministry of Higher Education of April 3, 1951. He graduated from the Kharkov Electrotechnical Institute and worked in Tomsk Polytechnic Institute.
Unforeseen difficulties arose as early as the beginning of the Institute construction, so the deadlines were shifted. The decree about NETI opening was issued on June 27, 1953. And so, the classes at the Institute began on September 1, 1953. The first classrooms were located in two houses in Rimskiy-Korsakov street rented from Novosibirsk Turbine Generator Plant.