Its grand opening will be timed to coincide with the Machine-Builder's Day.
On Thursday, April 15, the Rector of St. Petersburg Mining University Vladimir Litvinenko and Director General of OAO BELAZ Sergey Nikiforovich signed a cooperation agreement. In particular, the parties agreed to establish an Innovation Center based at Russia's first higher technical school, which will combine “the best technological solutions in the field of mechanical engineering.”
Besides benches, computers, simulators, and software, absolutely exclusive equipment will arrive in the city on Neva. So, The Cifra Group of Companies, one of BELAZ’s partners in the implementation of the project, will provide a workplace for the operator of remotely piloted and robotized mining equipment to the St. Petersburg university free of charge.
In other words, students and specialists of mining enterprises, who take advanced training courses here, will have an opportunity to control loading and delivery robotic complexes at BELAZ's mining enterprises and landfills in real-time directly from the Center's classroom.
Besides, training on the holding's simulators will enable learners to get acquainted in practice with the operation of intelligent systems for controlling the operation of quarry machinery. For example, those that are responsible for keeping the driver awake and preventing collisions and hit-and-runs with personnel.
Director-General of OAO BELAZ Sergey Nikiforovich noted that mining companies today require professionals who have real knowledge about the structure of modern machinery, which is involved in the production process. It should be understood that it is constantly being improved, upgraded, becoming more complex.
“To increase the efficiency of its operation and avoid mistakes, specialists, of course, need to acquire new competencies. That is why we want to create a platform in St. Petersburg where we could hold both practical training sessions for students and advanced training courses for consumers of our products. The choice of Mining University is not accidental, it is our strategic partner that not only trains personnel for the industry but is also the initiator of the system of professional certification of engineers, lifelong learning," explained Director-General of OAO BELAZ.
Rector of St. Petersburg Mining University Vladimir Litvinenko emphasized that the modern labor market has become more demanding concerning young professionals. Technical university graduates today do not have time for a long adaptation to production, which means that the university if it aspires to be a flagship university, should give its students the opportunity to obtain not only knowledge but also all the necessary professional skills and additional competencies.
"To train well-qualified engineers, to form a new generation of the technical intelligentsia, it is of great importance to create a comfortable environment for acquiring knowledge, to develop the material base. This is one of our unconditional priorities," Vladimir Litvinenko emphasized.
As part of the signed agreement, a project roadmap has been drawn up, according to which the innovative BELAZ Competence Center will be opened by the beginning of the next academic year. It is planned that the opening ceremony will coincide with Machine Builder's Day celebrated on September 26.
Let us remind you that the Belarusian National Technical University is a supporting university of the International Center of Competences in Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO. And on the basis of the two largest enterprises of the Republic - BELAZ and Belaruskali, the students of St. Petersburg Mining University have regular internships. In their turn, students of BNTU are also regular participants of summer schools organized by the St. Petersburg university.
