Pupils of the ninth energy class of School No. 334, which was established last year by Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University in cooperation with Lenenergo, will implement their first serious scientific developments. They touch upon such areas of knowledge as economical distribution of energy resources in households, alternative energy generation options, increasing the efficiency of insulators for high-voltage transmission lines and a number of others.
In order to clarify and distribute the topics of the projects among themselves, the children arrived at the senior technical university of Russia, where they were met by their supervisors, who for more than a year and a half have been giving lectures to schoolchildren on energy management and ways to increase the efficiency of its use. The university representatives noted that the theoretical part of the research, which includes, among other things, a clear plan for conducting certain experiments, should be completed by May. And in the next academic year teenagers will start manufacturing real physical objects. For example, a robot for cleaning solar panels.
Vladimir Litvinenko, Rector of Mining University, explained that the process of improving the system of personnel training for the real sector of the national economy involves not only the modification of the curricula of higher educational institutions. No less important is the transformation of secondary education, because university students are yesterday's schoolchildren, which means that the effectiveness of their education in higher education largely depends on the knowledge they obtained in childhood and adolescence. Another important detail is the growing responsibility of employers for the qualitative replenishment of their talent pool.
"Successful integration of these three components is possible through the creation of effective school-university-enterprise chains. This concept assumes that children inclined to technical sciences, with the help of academic and business communities, start building their career trajectory at the age of thirteen or fourteen. That is, studying in 8th or 9th grade, they already understand in which industry and even in which specific company they would like to work in the future. We implement one of the specialized projects together with Lenenergo. Our students are gradually integrating into both corporate and student life. In particular, they listen to lectures by Mining University professors, learn to work with specialized software and even, as you can see, start developing their first real research projects. We do our best to make young people realize that science is interesting and exciting. Such an approach is vital for raising a new generation of talented scientists and engineers," emphasized Vladimir Litvinenko.
Olga Bryantseva, the class teacher of the energy class at School No. 334, says that high school students today often cannot decide which professional field they want to associate their future with. And even after entering a university, they do not always understand whether the obtained specialty suits them or not. It is quite another matter, children who start their way from the 8th profile class. During the years of study they have a comprehensive idea of the profession and by the time of enrollment in the university they can already clearly answer the question whether they are really interested in this paradigm of development. This helps them to make a more informed choice and to become in maximum demand on the labor market in the future.
"All of us make a lot of efforts to make these children real engineers. Their timetable includes more lessons in physics, computer science and mathematics than other schoolchildren, and they are additionally taught graphic drawing in the Compass three-dimensional modeling system. We also emphasize the mandatory acquisition of practical skills by the pupils of our energy class. For example, in less than two months they will obtain a specialty of electrician for the operation of distribution networks. A lot of work is being done to integrate schoolchildren into the student environment at Mining University, where we regularly bring them to get a clear idea of their potential place of future study. About the requirements that are imposed on students here. All this will allow them to realize their potential in the future, become successful people and benefit their country," said Olga Bryantseva.
Children who are initially oriented to the profession get into the energy class. Not only the average score in math, physics and computer science, which cannot be lower than "4", but also the results of an essay on the topic "Why I want to be an engineer" are taken into account during enrollment. In addition, both children and parents are warned in advance about the intensity of training. The school week lasts five days, and getting a practical specialty takes place on Saturdays.
One of the students of the specialized class, German Shkolnikov, is a doctor. But he himself decided to devote his life to the profession of engineer and is confidently moving towards his goal. At least, when distributing scientific projects, the young man chose a topic of increased complexity. He will work on the creation of an intelligent system for diagnosing the engine of an electric car.
"A good education is very important for me and my family. And when at the end of the 7th grade the question of choice arose, I decided to continue my studies in the technical direction. Firstly, because I have always been more interested in doing math or making something with my hands than in writing essays. Secondly, because it is interesting and prestigious to create some new technologies or improve the efficiency of old ones. The trajectory of my future can't be called other than ideal. I really want to enter Mining University and then go to work in "Lenenergo", - shared his plans German Shkolnikov.
Together with him and two other guys Maria Filippova will work on the intelligent diagnostic system. She confessed that she likes to take on complex topics, as this approach allows her to "move to another level" faster.
"I love geography, but in the seventh grade I fell in love with physics. Therefore, I entered the energy class consciously and I don't regret it a bit, I like studying here. If we talk about the theme of our project, it is, of course, complicated. But I believe that we will definitely achieve results, because our team has an interest in working in this direction," said Maria.
Nikolay Korolev, Associate Professor at the Educational Center for Digital Technologies of Mining University, said that the students will conduct all their research under the supervision of experienced mentors from Mining University. Moreover, a specific location has already been selected for each of the projects, which will minimize the time spent on development.
"Between the groups of schoolchildren we distributed separate tasks that are parts of fundamental or applied scientific research by scientists of our university. At the same time, we left them a field for imagination and creativity to inspire the guys and demonstrate the expediency of their labor input. In order to give them an opportunity not only to conduct experiments, but also to achieve the desired results, a laboratory with all the necessary equipment has already been selected for each project," Nikolai Korolev emphasized.
It should be noted that the energy class at school No. 334 is not the only similar project of St. Petersburg Mining University. The university is building similar collaborations with other flagship domestic companies.
