A regional representative office of the International Competence Center in Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO was established on the basis of SIBUR. The agreement was signed by the rector of the St. Petersburg Mining University Vladimir Litvinenko and the chairman of the board of SIBUR Holding Dmitry Konov.
On Friday, October 23, the opening ceremony of the SIBURINTECH Center for the Development of Engineering and Technical Expertise took place in Tobolsk. It was attended by Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko, Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, Governor of the Tyumen Region Alexander Moor, Head of the Sirius Educational Center Elena Shmeleva, representatives of Russian higher education and the business community.
SIBUR CEOs noted that the new educational center will become “a place for concentration, accumulation and development of advanced corporate knowledge and technologies." Moreover, not only employees of the company itself, but also specialists from other petrochemical industries, scientific organizations and students of specialized higher educational institutions will be trained and improve their skills there. The last category is especially important for the holding, because one of the goals facing SIBURINTECH is to popularize engineering and technical professions and intensify work with talented youth.
The special status of the site will contribute to the implementation of this and other tasks: it has become a regional office of the International Competence Center in Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO. This will allow its employees to take part in the development of specialized educational programs, criteria for assessing the competencies of engineers, and to accredit specialists from mining and processing companies for the compliance with international standards.
Vladimir Litvinenko, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the UNESCO Competence Center, created on the basis of St. Petersburg Mining University, stressed that the results of this accreditation, which only licencend engineers have the right to carry out, are recognized by the British Engineering Council. This is one of the oldest professional communities in Europe; its certification contributes to the career growth of specialists and the increase in the capitalization of the companies where they work. Especially so if these corporations are preparing for an IPO or their shares are already listed on the stock exchange.
“It is important that both scientists and employees of large companies are involved in the process of developing criteria for an international system for assessing professional training of personnel. That is, exactly those who will apply these standards in practice. We hope that the regional office of the UNESCO Center, opened on the basis of SIBUR, will make a significant contribution to this work. And in addition to training, refresher courses, certification of engineering and technical personnel will also take place there ” said Vladimir Litvinenko.
He called the signing of the agreement with the corporation "a step forward" and expressed a hope that it would improve the level of competence of domestic engineers.
Chairman of the Board of SIBUR Holding Dmitry Konov is of the same opinion. He said that attracting the best engineers and technicians, constantly updating their knowledge and skills is “part of the strategy aimed at maintaining technological leadership.”
"Interaction with the International Competence Center for Mining Education opens up new horizons for us in terms of training engineers adapted to our operations, with the account of modern requirements to their qualifications. Opening of the regional representative office of UNESCO will let us become one of the leading expert platforms for development and accumulation of best practices in the field of staff development and integration into the global professional community," Dmitry Konov emphasized.
The parties have decided to get a jump on the practical implementation of the points of agreement. At the end of the ceremony, four top managers of SIBUR were awarded certificates of “Privileged engineer.” They received this title based on the results of previously passed exams run by experts of the National Association of Mining Engineers. Now the representatives of the holding have received the right to accredit mineral companies’ specialists for the status of “professional engineer.”
The opening of SIBURINTEKH also included a discussion on the “Key challenges of engineering expertise development for industrial companies.” Its participants stated the need to learn throughout their lives. After all, the knowledge obtained at the university is becoming catastrophically more outdated every year, and in order not to stay on the sidelines, it is necessary to almost every day obtain new competences corresponding to the challenges of our time. This is the goal of cooperation between St. Petersburg Mining University and SIBUR.
