Login
Register

Year: 2021

TPU physicists install new diamond sensors for CMS experiment on Large Hadron Collider

Posted on by Tomsk Polytechnic University

A background radiation monitoring system and parameters of colliding beams have been changed at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), one of the large general-purpose particle detectors of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The beam condition monitor leakage (BCML) system is one of the most essential parts of the system required for the protection of the CMS separate units and unit electronics from crucial radiation damages.

For the BCML system, scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University installed eight new diamond sensors, which are the main part of it. It is planned that the new sensors will operate from three to five years, until the next detector renewal. Seamless operation of the BCML system will allow scientists to obtain new data on the structure of matter at the elementary level.

Nowadays, the LHC is the world’s largest and most powerful charged particle accelerator. Hadron beams are a class of particles, including protons, which accelerate and collide.  Here at the LHC, scientists from all over the world research what happens as a result of such collisions.

There are large detectors set around the beam collision points. CMS is one of the four main detectors. CMS is 16 m in diameter, 25 m long. It is a large general-purpose particle physics detector and designed for both research and verification of predictions of the Standard Model of Elementary Particles, including the properties of the Higgs boson, and search for physics beyond the Standard Model, additional measurements and dark matter.

The scientists and engineers of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Physics jointly with colleagues from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY), Princeton University (the USA), the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and other organizations take part in the CMS Beam Radiation Instrumentation and Luminosity (BRIL) project. The TPU scientists are in charge of the development, renewal and maintenance of the system for slow monitoring of proton collision and heavy nuclei and emergency beam loss.

This BCML system allows scientists to change the background radiation from proton collision, to analyze the changes of the background radiation during both short times relevant to the random deviations of individual particles and to record long-term changes. These changes can be related to the deviations in the beam motion or for instance, vacuum loss in the beam transport channel.

In case of critical deviations, a beam has to be stopped, i.e. forcibly lost.  Otherwise, long-term exposure to a beam moving with colossal energy can lead to irreversible damages of the complicated and expensive systems of the detector and collider. Every emergency or false beam loss is a true incident that has to be investigated.

The BCML system that the TPU scientists work with is complicated and multicomponent. The most important part of this system is the set of diamond sensors located in the heart of the detector next to the proton collision point. Diamond is the most radiation-resistant material, however, even this material gradually loses its properties due to the ultra-high radiation doses and it has to be changed.

The diamond sensors are plates of synthetic diamonds of the highest quality with metal contacts from chromium and gold deposited on them. Plate crystals are soldered to special boards, which are deposited by gold as well. During the operation of the sensor, over 500 V voltage is applied to it. When a particle flies through the sensor, it obtains an electric current, which can be measured. If current strength surpasses the set threshold during a certain interval, then the system signals about the beam loss.

“The sensors in the system for slow monitoring were changed the last time in 2015. We have just changed eight sensors, which will serve for about the next five years. Preparation for the installation, including overall inspection of the system and calibration of the new sensors, required several months of intense work on site. The installation of the system in the shaft continued for two days and nights.Due to these new sensors, our colleagues from the other CMS research groups will be able to collect new amounts of data for the next period of collider’s operation,” Alexey Shevelev, Research Fellow of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Physics, says.

According to the expert, there is a search for new materials, which will be able to reduce the cost of the sensors and extend their operational life among the tasks of the research team.

“Actually, CERN is preparing to the transition of the LHC project to the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project. To implement it, all the systems of the accelerator are reordered. According to the calculations, the number of collisions will increase in dozen times, radiation fields will increase and consequently, the diamond sensors will lose their properties faster and they will have to be changed more often. Therefore, we are actively searching for ways how to reduce the cost of system maintenance and what diamonds can be changed for. In the autumn, in the experimental part of our detector, we are planning to install the samples of Russian manufactured diamonds, which are several times cheaper than the ones which are currently used, and also to install several times cheaper sapphire crystals. We are going to research their radiation resistance and degradation rate,” Vitaly Okhotnikov, Junior Research Fellow of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Physics, adds.

Chiang Mai University Faculty of Nursing is the first nursing school in Thailand to use AR and VR

Posted on by Editorial Team

The devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been seen in hospitals,  communities, and economies. The pandemic also forced the world, particularly the education sector, to adapt and change resulting in an uptake of disruptive innovation that forever changes higher education.

At NurseCMU, the Chiang Mai University Faculty of Nursing in Thailand, the in-person clinical practice was greatly limited by the pandemic. Students spent more time in simulation with high fidelity manikins and other activities meant to provide students with clinical skills while observing social distancing.

Finding new ways for students to gain clinical experience suddenly highlighted certain opportunities for nursing education.

Dean Thanee Kaewthummanukul, NurseCMU’s Dean since October 2020, immediately implemented his vision for keeping NurseCMU at the forefront of nursing education and research, building on the vision established by former Dean Wipada Kunaviktikul during her four terms as Dean.

Dean Thanee felt that augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) could address many of the problems encountered during the COVID pandemic. The use of AR/VR technologies is increasingly part of health professional education. However, content is predominantly geared towards medical students and not appropriate for the Thai context.

NurseCMU is the first faculty of nursing in Thailand to embed AR/VR teaching methodologies into its curriculum, working with programmers to develop tailored nursing content.

AR/VR will be implemented beginning in the second semester of the 2021 academic year. This technology helps to solve longstanding issues in clinical practice: how do you give students the opportunity to practice their skills with vulnerable populations while maintaining the safety of the patient?

Initial development focused on the baccalaureate program with VR simulating work in the neonatal and adult intensive care units. Patients in these units are critically ill and space is limited due to the specialized equipment needed. VR provides a safe environment where students can practice their skills in a VR room identical to one they would see in the hospital.

Each student receives ample time to practice their skills under different scenarios and there is no risk to the patient. In fact, VR will allow students to be more prepared for in-person clinical practice in these settings having practiced their skills virtually.

VR is also being used to allow students to experience various scenarios during labour and delivery, while AR will be used to help students learn how to work with patients suffering from mental health issues through an interactive website. Students will be able to meet and interact with patients with different diagnoses and will learn firsthand how their choices will elicit different emotional responses.

As society becomes increasingly reliant on new technologies, nursing education must continue to embrace these technologies to remain relevant, to maintain the interest of students and to take advantage of the new opportunities offered through innovation. At NurseCMU, the future is now.

TPU Scientists take part in determining luminosity with record accuracy in beam collisions of LHC at CERN

Posted on by Tomsk Polytechnic University

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from leading global universities and the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) collaboration are conducting luminosity research at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) that observed when beams of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) collide in order to accurately count the number of proton collisions. They were able to determine luminosity with the record accuracy that allows reducing intervals of allowed values for various quantities characterizing the interaction processes of elementary particles. The experiment findings are published on the CERN website.

Nowadays, the LHC is the world’s largest and most powerful charged particle accelerator. Hadron beams are a class of particles, including protons, which accelerate and collide. Groups of 100 billion protons collide 25 million times per second. Most protons pass the interaction point without collisions, therefore, the real number of proton collisions is dozen times less. The reason is that protons are tiny, which is why there is a lot of space between them. Meanwhile, there is not a small enough camera to observe how many collisions occur during each pass. The physicists are currently working on new methods of accuracy in calculations of such collisions.

“Intensity of collisions of individual particles when beams collide in the collider calls luminosity. When physicists study the individual processes of production of some particles in the collisions of individual protons or nuclei, calculate the parameters of such processes and uncertainty of such calculations, they have to know how many collisions were in total and what the accuracy was with which this number was known. Therefore, the accuracy of measurement and/or luminosity simulating is the main factor characterizing processes of the microcosm, for which the LHC was built,” Anton Babaev, Research Fellow of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Physics, explains.

Luminosity is calculated based on the data of particle distribution in the beams during collisions, beam intensity and measurements of luminometers. The luminometers do not measure the number of collisions directly. They measure, for instance, the quantity of energy released in the sensors when collision products pass through them or a number of such passes possessing certain characteristics. To conduct an analysis of luminosity measurements, the scientists used the 2015-2016 data of the LHC.

The work is a part of the research work of the CMS collaboration. The experts of CERN, Princeton University (the USA), the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY, Germany), the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary), Kansas State University and Rutgers University (the USA), Tomsk Polytechnic University took part in the conducted research.

To calculate luminosity, the scientists are using a three-phase method. First, they carefully displace proton bunches from their regular position and then simultaneously record values of luminometer counters during the process of the displacement. This method is called a Van der Meer scan. It is used to determine luminosity and allows measure the beam size and proton density in bunches. Although at this stage, the method can give uncertain values due to luminometer responsivity to the main conditions of data collecting. Therefore, there are various corrections applied at the second stage. At the last stage, scientists observe how stable the absolute calibration of all luminometers is over time. For instance, they compare measurements for different luminometers and how they are changed over time.

“The TPU scientists simulated and conducted a data analysis of Van der Meer scan of a beam, especially electromagnetic interaction of colliding beams to determine the value of displacement of beam orbit and changes of beam overlap as a consequence of such interaction,” Anton Babaev adds. “One of the tasks lay in the design of an algorithm for calculating relative non-linearity of luminometers.”

As the result of the conducted research work, the scientist collaboration determined that the uncertainty of luminosity for the experiments conducted in 2015 can be accepted equal to 1.6%, while for the experiments conducted in 2016 can be accepted equal to 1.2%. The obtained result is about two times better than previously used ones. According to the scientists, revaluation of luminosity uncertainty allows reducing uncertainty for various quantities characterizing the interaction processes of elementary particles.

Thammasat University’s new course aims to inspire and build entrepreneurship

Posted on by Thammasat University

Thammasat University has recently launched a course on Innovation & Entrepreneurial Mindset or Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking Process (TU 109) to help nurture and build future entrepreneurs.

The program will have 30 entrepreneurs as “Course Mentors”. They will serve to help spark up ideas and to inspire students by conveying their experiences and coaching.

 The university looks at this course as the first step for students in direction of creating their start-Ups while they are still in the university.

Tee-Pattanapong Ranurak and Tong-Thanet Jirasawaekdilok, the two founders of the premium spa brand Divana and Dii Group, who are the Course Directors of the course said that the new generation is knowledgeable, fast and intelligent. Therefore, teaching using Knowledge-based learning as a foundation, may not be able to keep up with this change.

“We, therefore, develop courses and offer classes with Project-based learning –Activity-based learning and Team-based learning, with case studies supporting the exchange of learning among them,” they said.

“We will construct a variety of classes, gathering real entrepreneurs to share both their success, failures, and errors to optimize learning from actual experiences in a short period of time in person, including inviting experts in setting up companies to enter the stock market, etc., to meet with students in close proximity, the module will be available for students in Semester One of Freshmen Year, so we will be focusing on building passion and inspiring them as well,” added the course director.

“What we will be lecturing about are experiences, passion and the key is that we will be teaching about failures. This is due to the fact that most classes are based on success. As for education from failures, the number is countable,” explained the Course Director of TU 109.

As for TU 109, it was originated from the idea of Rector ​​Assoc. Prof. Gasinee Witoonchart who wishes to foster entrepreneurship skills in the modern world and would like to nurture at least 1,000 students a year on the path of entrepreneurship.

Assoc. Prof. Gasinee therefore has designed and developed the curriculum together with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pipop Udorn, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs. The curriculum has been finalised into 3 modules, namely TU 109, TU 209 and TU 309, which will be providing classes from Basic to Advanced levels, aiming for students to develop themselves so that they can earn money during their years as students.

88 Sandbox, which is Thammasat’s newest ecosystem will be acting as a platform for potential startups within and outside the university.

Assoc. Prof. Gasinee said that TU 109 was initiated from the analysis of global education trends together with micro behaviour, which is based on students’ behaviour and what they are interested to learn about.

“We aim that prior to students’ graduation, they must have come up with their own business and are able to try testing in crowdfunding. In which, we will be having mentors to join the course and provide close guidance. I am confident that students will obtain a deep-seated experience of innovation and entrepreneurship that is good, virtuous, and will definitely be an important force in a better society,” said Assoc. Prof. Gasinee

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pipop said that TU 109 innovation and entrepreneurial thinking process module is a general education course designed to build entrepreneurs who are ready for the world of tomorrow. The teaching approaches must be framed and be in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and focusing on enhancing life’s essential attributes in accordance with Thammasat University’s principles.

“Students will be having a chance to learn both concepts and skills to foster success for start-up businesses, as well as acquiring hands-on practice, both in terms of crowdfunding, 1-minute pitch preparation, storytelling, business analysis using the Business model canvas, and financial analysis,” explained Assoc. Prof. Dr Pipop

Five President University students secure their seats at the IISMA program

Posted on by President University

Five President University (PresUniv) students have received scholarships from the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program organized by the Directorate General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology.

IISMA is a scholarship from the Indonesian Government to fund Indonesian students through mobility programs at leading universities overseas. This program is open to students from all Indonesian universities under the Directorate General of Higher Education.

Five PresUniv students who successfully passed this program are Annisa Harovanta and Gede Made Danur Dharmahadi W, Management Study Program students, Ahda Ayudia Hairisa and Kadek Astri Dwijayanti, International Relations Study Program students, and Felicia Limiardo, Information Technology Study Program.

Those five PresUniv students are from the batch of 2019. One of them, namely Felicia, managed to get a scholarship for one semester at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Through this program, PresUniv students will spend one semester at partner universities overseas to study, get to know the destination country’s culture, and improve their skills. In addition, the scholarship in this program will cover several things, such as tuition and registration fees, transportation allowances, living expenses allowances during the program, health insurance, visa allowances, and PCR tests.

FBM, UiTM organized a Green Initiatives for Sustainable Campus seminar

Posted on by NURUL SALIZAWATEE MAHPAR & NOOR RITA MOHAMAD KHAN

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has been accepted as a member of MySUN (Malaysia Sustainable University Campus) Network. MySUN, funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of European Union under the Capacity Building Funding, aims to support Malaysia to address the challenges facing Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the area of the system, management and operations of sustainable university campuses in promoting people to people contacts, intercultural awareness and understanding, and supporting the national-level collaboration.

MySUN focuses on the three main activities of sustainability: curriculum development activities, modernisation of governance, management and system of HEIs and strengthening of the relations between higher education and the wider economic and social environment. With the support from 8 Malaysian HEIs, University of Alicante, University of Geneva and FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences; and funds in a duration of 3 years (January 2020 to January 2023), activities as such can be well conducted.

Hence, as member of MySUN, on the 22nd July, 2021 via Google Meet platform, MySUN UiTM which led by the Faculty of Business and Management (FBM) conducted a seminar with the theme of “Green Initiatives for Sustainable City”. This seminar aimed at creating awareness on green initiatives in UiTM and bridging the initiatives among all stakeholders.

This seminar also fosters the support of MySUN as a supporting network to the current green initiatives held by the UiTM Green Centre (UGC). During the seminar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norlida Jaafar, Manager of MySUN UiTM, expressed that MySUN intends to be part of the initiatives by UGC in developing a more sustainable green campus for tomorrow. She also highlighted the importance of identifying key target groups to ensure deliverables of green initiatives are achievable.

Meanwhile, in the “UGC & Green Initiatives in UiTM” segment, Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Arnis Asmat, the Director of UGC discloses an encouraging number of UGC green initiatives currently implemented by its clusters (infrastructure, waste, water, energy consumption, education and transportation). These initiatives are vowed to bring benefits to UiTM, for research, socio-economic and environment and to the nation, at large.

In the last segment of the seminar, TPr. Annie Syazrin Ismail, Senior Officer of Town Planning from the State Council (MBSA) acknowledged the need to extend the green initiatives to a wider economic and social environment. She also highlighted that the goal of creating a dynamic city comes with the support of local residents. Creating a smart, liveable and sustainable city is more feasible and the challenges facing the goal are minimized with residents understanding and appreciating the SDGs. To date, MBSA runs a variety of initiatives in supports of the SDGs.

Basically, the seminar yields a range of fruitful ideas and suggestions for future sustainable initiatives that UGC and MySUN could focus on. Appreciation goes to all the participants who supported and provided positive feedbacks and ideas throughout the seminar.

TPU to train managers of Uranium mining industry of Kazakhstan

Posted on by Tomsk Polytechnic University

Tomsk Polytechnic University has concluded a unique contract to implement a retraining program entitled Master of Business Administration with the speciality in Management in Uranium Mining. Senior managers of Kazakhstan enterprises of the uranium mining industry, they are 47 enterprises, will be able to join the retraining program.

Annually, there will be enrolled one group of students. Retraining will last for two years. A curriculum of the program consists of eight modules aimed at the development of professional expertise of senior managers of enterprises of the uranium mining industry in the conditions of an invariant market environment.

“The unique feature of the retraining program lies in the involvement of the MBA Programs Office of the TPU Center for Сontinuing Education, the academic staff of the TPU School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and the Division for Geology of the TPU School of Earth Sciences and Engineering,” Galina Alekhina, Director of the MBA Programs Office of TPU, says.

“To implement the retraining program, leading educators of TPU, as well as experts of Tomsk and Moscow universities were involved in the number of subjects.”

The students will study enterprise and team management, including economics, management, project and staff management, internal communications, lean manufacturing and the theory of inventive problem-solving. The module of special subjects related to the specific characters of work of a uranium mining enterprise is planned as well.

The students jointly with the experts will analyze cases on uranium extraction technology and nuclear fuel, radiochemistry, methods of analytical control of uranium mining production, logistics of the uranium mining industry and study many other aspects.

The program will be implemented in a hybrid mode. Most of the classes will be held in Kazakhstan. One of the modules, a production one, will be given in Tomsk, at TPU.

New porous silicon-based composite material for nanoelectronics

Posted on by Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University

A team of physicists from Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI” developed a method to synthesize a composite material from porous silicon with fullerene-based silver-containing inclusions evenly distributed in it.

The new composite can be used to develop elements for nanoelectronics and efficient emission cathode materials for accurate identification of the composition of unknown chemical compounds. The prototype surpasses all modern-day analogs because of its ability to create high-density electron flow at lower electric field intensity. The results of the study were published in the Electronics journal.

Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) is a technique that helps accurately determine the atomic composition of a substance. When passing through a sample, electrons lose energy, and the lost amount directly correlates with the types of atoms in the substance. To pierce a sample with electrons, a high density of particle flow is required.

The higher the density of emitted electrons and the lower the threshold values of electric field intensity that is required for such emission, the more efficient is the method. Scientists can increase the accuracy of EELS by improving electron-emitting cathodes.

Scientists are especially interested in low-threshold (or cold) field cathodes that secure high-density emission flow at low electrical field intensity levels. The physics behind this phenomenon is still being discussed. Still, the materials capable of low-threshold emission can find application in electron-emitting devices. The low-threshold emission effect can be used not only to improve the EELS method, but also in nanoelectronics, namely in ultrahigh-frequency devices, field displays, quantum transistors, electronic microscopy, and nanolithography.

Generally, a material for low-threshold field cathodes consists of distributed conducting particles in a non-conducting matrix. In such structures, threadlike conducting channels can form between the base and particles, any two particles, or the particles close to the surface of the cathode and vacuum. Such channels stimulate electron emission even in weak electric fields.

A team of scientists from LETI, together with their colleagues from Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University and Saint Petersburg Mining University, synthesized and studied a new material for manufacturing effective low-threshold field cathodes.

The conducting particles in it were made of fullerene-based silver-containing materials and the non-conducting matrix—of porous silicon that was obtained using the electrochemical anode etching method. To create a porous silicon matrix with evenly distributed conducting particles, the team soaked it in a solution of fullerene-based silver-containing materials.

“We chose porous silicon as a promising material for low-threshold field cathodes because of its well-developed system of pores, large specific surface area, and porosity. Our sample contains branching pores with less than 50 nm in diameter. Thanks to special technological methods, we managed to introduce the conducting phase into the system of pore channels and distribute it evenly to secure identical material characteristics across the sample. It was a difficult task, but we succeeded,” said Yulia Spivak, Assistant Professor at the Department of Micro- and Nanoelectronics of ETU “LETI.”

The threshold electric field intensity value required for the sample to emit electrons was 2 V/um which is 20 times less than that of its modern-day analogs. Thanks to these properties, the new cathodes can be more durable, have a longer service life, and use the energy supplied to them more efficiently. Moreover, according to the authors of the work, incorporating other materials in the matrix could help them further reduce the required field intensity level.

“Julia wrote a thesis on the development of new porous materials. To them, one can add various particles such as substance clusters and nanoparticles, including cutting-edge carbon nanomaterial based on nanotubes or fullerenes. The work confirms that porous silicon materials with incorporated fullerenes have advance technical parameters and are promising for practical application. In the future, we plan to collaborate with scientists from other organizations to further develop this topic,” explained Vyacheslav Moshnikov, Professor of the Department of Micro- and Nanoelectronics of ETU “LETI.”

The scientists of the Department of Micro- and Nanoelectronics plan to further develop the field of new materials through mutually beneficial cooperation with colleagues from other organizations.

UiTM Pahang branch campus hosts iMIT SIC 2021

Posted on by Nurul Jannah

University Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Pahang branch campus successfully organised the 4th International Malaysia-Indonesia-Thailand Symposium on Innovation and Creativity  (iMIT SIC 2021) from 13 June to 24 August 2021.

iMIT SIC 2021 was mainly aimed to provide an avenue for local and international academics, researchers, and students to highlight their innovative and creative ideas or products from multidisciplinary fields related to Social Science, Business Administration, Engineering, and Science & Technology fields within the theme “Embracing Innovation and Creativity in Industrial Revolutions.”.

The symposium involved the participation of 3 strategic partners from Malaysia (Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang branch, Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis branch, Universiti Teknologi MARA Johor branch, Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak branch), Indonesia (Universitas Islam Riau, Universitas Airlangga, Universitas Tanjungpura) and Thailand (Princess Naradhiwas University, Yala Rajabhat University, Phuket Rajabhat University). To adapt to the new norm conditioned by the pandemic, the event was conducted virtually for the first time after it was first held in 2017.

The event started with a welcoming speech by UiTM Pahang Branch’s Deputy Director for Research & Industrial Linkages, Assoc. Prof. Dr Wan Mohd Nazri Wan Abdul Rahman, followed by keynote speeches from the representatives of Malaysia (Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr Noor Azurai Ahmad @ Salleh of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia), Thailand (Col. Asst. prof. Sarawut Jindarat of Phramongkutlao College of Medicine Bangkok) and Indonesia (Dr Evizal Abdul Kadir of Universitas Islam Riau).

Over the three months’ course of the event, 315 participants from Southeast Asia took part in this event which offered 41 Gold, 90 Silver and 18 Bronze awards for Category A (Students) and 34 Gold, 84 Silver and 48 Bronze awards for Category B (Professionals).

This event also included a product pitching session where a selected six (6) best products were presented according to the two main categories- students and professionals. Apart from the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, the 4th iMIT SIC also introduced two special awards: ‘the most liked video’ and ‘best of the best’ awards.

“It has been an honour to host iMIT SIC virtually this year after it was postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic. We had the first one at UiTM Perlis branch campus way in 2017 and then Riau in 2018. And I still remember myself leading our UiTM Pahang delegation for the last iMIT SIC in 2019 to Princess of Naradhiwas University, Narathiwat, Thailand. My hearty gratitude to everyone for making this event a great success. Indonesia, we will surely be there for the upcoming iMIT SIC”, said the UiTM Pahang’s Rector, Professor Ts. Dr Mohd Ilham Adenen before officiating the closing ceremony of iMIT SIC 2021.

The iMIT SIC 2021 was in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 4, No. 9 and No. 17, which emphasises the quality of education, promoting resilience and sustainability in industry, innovation and infrastructure and intensifying international cooperation and networking for holistic development.

SPbPU and the IAEA: a new step in the development of cooperation

Posted on by 5100spbstu

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University(SPbPU) and the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed Practical Arrangements on Cooperation in the
Area of Educational Activities in the Area of Emergency Preparedness and
Response – International Master’s Degree Program “Emergency Preparedness
and Response”.

The signing ceremony took place during the 65th IAEA General Conference online. On behalf of SPbPU the ceremony was attended by Professor Dmitry Arseniev, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Andrey Andreev, Director of the Higher School of Technospheric Safety, Anton Byzov, associate professor at the Higher School, and coordinator of the new Emergency Preparedness and Response program, as well as employees of the international office.

The IAEA was represented by Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, IAEA Ms. Lydie Evrard, Acting Head of the Incident and Emergency Centre, IAEA Mr. Florian Baciu, who also moderated the event, and the Center personnel.

On behalf of the IAEA, the following remarks were made by the Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, IAEA Ms. Lydie Evrard: “We are embarking on a new collaboration to provide a comprehensive Master’s Degree-level education in nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness and response,” said Ms. Lydie Evrard and highlighted that “such academic programs for the youth help prepare qualified, skilled, and knowledgeable members of the emergency preparedness and response community that are ready to face the realities of a multi-hazard environment”.

In his welcoming remarks from Polytechnic University, Vice-Rector for International Affairs Dmitry Arseniev emphasized that SPbPU has a rich experience in training highly qualified personnel for Russian and foreign companies together with leading organizations, in particular, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.

“And today a new step in our cooperation is taking place – Polytechnic university and the International Atomic Energy Agency are signing an agreement on the implementation of educational activities in the field of emergency response – the international Master’s Degree Program ‘Emergency Preparedness and Response’. We look forward to developing our cooperation and believe that the success of this educational program will contribute to strengthening sustainability and safety in the global world,” said Dmitry Arseniev.

The production of a Master’s Degree Program in emergency preparedness and the response was initiated by the IAEA in 2019 with the involvement of experts of the International Network for Education and Training (iNET-EPR), established by the IAEA.

In 2020, Polytechnic University was chosen as the site for the development and implementation of the new program. In December 2020, the Rector of SPbPU Andrei Rudskoi, Academician RAS, signed a cooperation agreement between Polytechnic University, Rosatom Technical Academy, and Emergency Technical Center of ROSATOM.

The main goal of the new international program is to educate national and foreign specialists in the field of emergency preparedness and response to nuclear emergencies for countries developing nuclear power programs. The program is planned to contribute to the creation of a sustainable nuclear power system worldwide in the near future.