A festive graduation ceremony of Egyptian nuclear engineers was held at the TPU International Culture Center. They were graduates of a joint program implemented by Tomsk Polytechnic University and the Egyptian Russian University having no alternatives in Russia. At TPU, they studied design and operation of nuclear power plants.
The ceremony was held in a hybrid mode in compliance with all epidemic-prevention measures. Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Elsergani, Director of the Bureau of Culture of the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in the Russian Federation, Vera Upirova, Senior Manager of the Rosatom Project Office on Education Development and International Cooperation, Grigory Sosnin, Vice President – Director for El Dabaa NPP Construction Project at Atomstroyexport, Shariff El Dihaidi, Deputy Director General for Nuclear Projects at Petrojet, Hanan Ibrahim, Director for Talent Development, Performance and Rewards at Hassan Allam Holding, Amged Farag, a representative for Development of International Cooperation at the Center of Industrial Modernization took part in the graduation ceremony online.
“Nuclear science and engineering has always been one of the most popular industries by youngsters in Russia and overseas. Rosatom pays a lot of attention to training staff for the development of national nuclear programs of partner countries, including Egypt. With the support of the State Corporation, over 60 students from Egypt completed their degrees at Rosatom flagship universities. We are really proud of these students. They justly can call TPU their alma mater,” Vera Upirova, Senior Manager of Rosatom Project Office on Education Development and International Cooperation, noted during the graduation ceremony.
This year, seven Egyptian students, who studied nuclear engineering, received their diplomas. It was the third time when students graduated from the joint program Nuclear Power Plants: Design, Operation and Engineering carried out by TPU and the Egyptian Russian University. They studied 5,5 years. First three years, Egyptian students studied fundamentals of science in their home country and then for two years and a half they studied fundamentals of physics and kinetics, neutronic calculations, principles of design, operation and engineering management of nuclear power plants at the TPU School of Energy and Power Engineering. The language of tuition was English.
“Over 70 years, TPU has been training staff for the nuclear industry. During this time, we have trained over 12,000 nuclear engineers. Graduates of our university work as engineers at all nuclear power plants and enterprises of the Russian nuclear power complex. Only during the last five years, 772 TPU graduates became staff of enterprises of the Rosatom State Corporation. Recently, there has been reached an agreement that Tomsk Polytechnic University will become a coordinator of NEST Radioactive Waste Management of I-graphite, an international project uniting universities and enterprises of the nuclear industry of Russia and some European countries. I am sure that the international family of TPU nuclear engineers will become bigger and bigger,” Leonid Sukhikh, Vice-Rector for Research and Technology Transfer, delivered his speech at the graduation ceremony.
The educational program Nuclear Power Plants: Design, Operation and Engineering was launched in 2015. The program is carried out under the supervision of the Rosatom State Corporation and has no alternatives in Russia. Since the moment of its launch, over 50 Egyptian students have completed the degree. At the moment, 21 Egyptian students study the program. International students are enrolled based on scholarships provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and as self-sponsored students.
“Study at TPU gave me not only new knowledge and practical skills but also new friends who helped me a lot to get used to the Siberian environment. Moreover, numerous practicals were quite useful for my future career. At the moment, I am planning to enter a TPU master’s degree to keep improving my qualification and acquire professional experience. I believe that it will be helpful for my further career growth,” shared his opinion a graduate Mohamed Elsayed.