Tag: Tomsk Polytechnic University

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.

A TPU alumnus Alexander Goncharov has become a member of the Russian National Committee of the International Commission on Illumination.

The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) is an international public organization founded in 1913 and uniting professionals in illumination engineering and lighting. The CIE is the highest authority in illumination recognized as an international body on standardization in illumination by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

The Russian National Committee of the CIE is a research and illumination engineering organization that ensures the participation of Russian illumination engineers in the work of the CIE and cooperates with the CIE and other international organizations engaged in problems of science, technology, standardization and art in lighting and illumination.

“Only professionals obtaining required expertise, research experience and approved research achievements in illumination and lighting can become members of the Russian National Committee of the CIE.

The Board of Administration of the Russian National Committee of the CIE makes a decision on each membership,” mentioned on the official website of the organization.

Alexander Goncharov graduated from the TPU master’s degree course in optical engineering in 2004. Then, he started a postgraduate degree at TPU where he continued his research works and developments in solid-state lighting, in particular for rail transport, street lights and grow lights. Having completed his postgraduate studies, he worked at Energoneft Tomsk, the Research Institute of Semiconductor Devices and Leader Light. At the moment, the TPU alumnus holds the position of head of the Illumination Engineering Department of Arlight Rus (Moscow).

In 2011, Alexander became a winner of the All-Russian Contest “Engineer of Year” and was included in the list of Russian professional engineers in the following nominations: Optics, Optomechanical and Optoelectronic Systems.

“I became engaged in solid-state lighting 20 years ago. Nowadays, illumination engineering has made incredible progress: a lot of illumination engineering companies have been opened, comparatively cheap metrology tool has entered the market and there are many more highly qualified professionals than those times. Moreover, today, the illumination engineering industry is in great need of professionals,” the TPU alumnus comments.

An international online workshop was arranged by TPU jointly with the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Colombo (Sri Lanka) and North-Caucasus Federal University. In total, seven universities of Russia and Sri Lanka joined the workshop.

“The pandemic has applied significant changes in the development of international and educational cooperation. At the moment, we have to adapt and search for new opportunities to strengthen relations with our international partners.

A series of round tables with representatives of leading technical universities in countries possessing serious research and education potential became one of such initiatives. We use all opportunities of online technology to exchange our experience, achievements and ideas, which will not only assist our university to strengthen existing relations or search for new partners but also will assist in considering the experience and opportunities of overseas colleagues in research areas meeting the TPU interests,” says Maxim Volkov, Head of the TPU Division of International Cooperation.

Nalin Dzhayakodi, Professor of the TPU Research Center for Automation and Information Technology and Bulat Soktoev, Associate Professor of the TPU Division for Geology, represented TPU at the held workshop.

At the held round table Energy and Sustainable Development: New Partnerships and Opportunities, the participants introduced the latest research achievements of their universities and discussed the current problems of international cooperation in the energy, environment, environmental engineering and future engineering industries to each other.

According to the organizers, some similar online workshops are being planned in the future. Thus, a dialogue with representatives of Egyptian and Jordan universities is being awaited. As Maxim Volkov notes the geography of the upcoming round tables will include not only Arabic countries but also TPU partner universities from India, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Pavel Strizhak, a professor of the TPU Butakov Research Center has become one of the 20 Russian scientists and science communicators whose photos entered the Science in Faces photo project.

The photo project exhibiting portraits of project participants was opened in Moscow GUM on February 7. It coincides with Russian Science Day and will last until February 20.

The photo exhibition is arranged by the Coordinating Council for Youth Affairs in Science and Education with the support of the Znanie Society. It is available for everyone who would like to admire scientists’ portraits.

The project participants are winners of the Presidential Prize in Science and Research for Young Scientists, winners of the Presidential Program of the Russian Science Foundation and participants of the President’s meeting with scientists on the boardwalk of the 2021 Congress of Young Scientists. It is the first time that such an exhibition has been held.

The photo exhibition aims to emphasise the special significance of scientists and researchers in shaping the future of Russia.

“To be a scientist is not a profession. It is all together: work, a mindset, a lifestyle and even a mission. It is impossible to be a scientist at half your ability or only during your working hours. As long as I remember myself, I have always have been engaged in science and I am keen to tell about my lifework,” said Professor Strizhak.

“I want as many as possible people will know how many opportunities science opens up and how much interesting the search process of new knowledge can be. Therefore, I always take part in educational or popular scientific initiatives when there is a chance. I am sure that Russian scientists must be eminent nationwide and abroad. The very heart of our capital is a definitely appropriate venue to exhibit our science and scientists,” he added.

A photographer Dmitry Ishkakov is the author of the portraits. He is famous for photo portraits of public figures. Exhibition organizers note, “at the exhibition, he presents his vision of stars of Russian science”.

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) have proposed a concept of a new optical bottle-beam trap. The scientists showed that two dielectric micro-bricks could be applied instead of the lens.

Unlike its alternatives, in the long run, such a trap can be used in lab-on-a-chips (LOC). The LOC is a tiny device that allows conducting various research, including biochemical one using a few square millimeter chip.

It will significantly broaden the opportunities of tiny laboratories. The research findings are published in the Optics Letter academic journal (IF: 3,866; Q1).

The optical trap is also called an optical capsule. It is a device using a laser beam that captures micro-sized objects not disrupting their inner structure. For instance, they can be living cells, proteins and molecules. A functioning principle of the known optical capsules is usually based on the application of complexly structured beams.

The scientists proposed a lensless method to form the optical micro-capsule. In this case, a closed domain of the field localization is created using two dielectric bricks. The sizes of these bricks are compared with the length of a lightwave.

If two dielectric bricks are illuminated using plane front light from the end dace, the localization field of the light field is formed in output. Under the right dimensioning of the bricks, the closed domain, a special ellipse is formed. There is high intensity of the electric field along the edges of the ellipse, while there is zero intensity inside of the domain. Nanoparticles are not able to pop out this edge. This is the optical capsule.

The process simulation and calculations were carried out based on the solution of Maxwell’s equations. Gold nanoparticles were used as samples for the calculations. Gold is a classical substance to solve such tasks. Gold nanoparticles are absorbing particles for the chosen wavelength.

“The concept developed by us allows obtaining a prolate optical trap. It is a definite advantage as such a capsule can capture not only spherical nanoparticles but also prolate ones. In particular, the prolate nanoparticles are viruses. It considerably broadens the range of application of the capsule,” says Oleg Minin, Professor of the TPU School of Non-Destructive Testing and Head of the project.

In the next, experimental stage of the research, the scientists will test the concept practically. The lensless optical traps can be applied in medicine, biology, as well as in the synthesis of new materials.

Researchers of Tomsk Polytechnic University have dissected a carcass of a Manchurian wapiti drowned near Olkhon Island of Lake Baikal in December. The collected biomaterials will be helpful in understanding how geochemical elements depending on characteristics of mountain landscapes are distributed in living organisms.

In the long run, besides fundamental conclusions, the researchers hope that will be able to form guidelines for the prevention of endemic diseases.

The interdisciplinary project entitled Impact of Lithological and Geochemical Characteristics of Mountain Landscapes of Siberia and the Far East on Formation of Elemental Composition of Mammalian Organism was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation and will last four years (2020-2024). The research works are being conducted by the TPU researchers jointly with scientists from the Pacific Geographical Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The TPU researchers carried out the research of the territories of Primorye and the Gornyi Altai. This year, they have already started the research of Baikalia, Transbaikalia and Buryatia. The territories for the project were chosen due to their specific chemical composition of rocks. During their expeditions, the TPU researchers collect samples of rocks, water, soils, vegetation and biomaterials.

“The case that occurred on Olkhon Island can be called unique. It is essential for the research of fodder impact on the formation of the elemental composition of a mammalian organism.

“Of course, we cannot pick up animals in protected areas. We cooperate with hunting sectors neighboring such territories or select objects for a biopsy in private households. Frequently, it is season work. A seasonal epizootic of animals can be seen on some territories during a winter. Therefore, we can collect bone material and wool samples.

“Therefore, it was a quite rare opportunity when as a result of an accident we were able to collect the samples of a brain, organs, bone material belonged to an animal from a nature reserve,” says Natalya Baranoskaya, Professor of the TPU Division for Geology and Head of the project.

According to her, the Manchurian wapiti was tracked down in the water by wolves. During six hours, staff of Pribaikalsky National Park, a policeman and locals tried to rescue the animal. Due to the thin ice, it was impossible to come closer to the Manchurian wapiti. By the moment rescuers finally pull the animal ashore, it had been dead. The animal remains, which were not useful to the researchers for further examination, were delivered to countries of golden eagles for supplementary feeding.

“We prepare the collected samples for examination and carry out a wide range of analyses. These analyses are inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine chemical composition, instrumental neutron activation analysis conducted at the TPU Nuclear Research Reactor and scanning electron microscopy.

“Factually, these are analyses for all chemical elements of the periodic table. We have already obtained rather interesting data on the concentration of chemical elements in the brain and spinal cord of the animals on territories with different geochemical conditions. As a result of the four-year research work, we must identify the significance of every organic component and metal-organic complex inside the animal organism, which mostly determine its life. The solution of such a fundamental problem will assist in the prevention of human and animals’ diseases,” explains Natalya Baranovskaya.

The Саnсеr Rеsеаrсh Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences has completed phase I of clinical trials of radiopharmaceutical containing technetium-99 (99Tc).

This drug most accurately identifies specific breast cancer that is sensitive only to certain types of treatment. The drug was developed by researchers of the TPU Oncotheranostics Research Center jointly with doctors of the Саnсеr Rеsеаrсh Institute. Phase I of the conducted clinical trials proved drug safety.

The upcoming phases of the clinical trials and studies will also be supported by the Priority 2030 program won by the university.

The drug is unique due to its structure. It contains scaffold protein and an isotope of 99Tc. The protein detects cancer cells and the isotope illuminates the precise location of diseased cells. The main works on drug development were conducted within a TPU mega-grant.

“We have successfully completed phase I out of three phases of clinical trials, in the course of which drug safety to diagnose breast cancer was proved. Moreover, during the trials we detected metastases even there where conventional methods of diagnostics were not able to detect them,” says Olga Bragina, Senior Research Fellow of the Саnсеr Rеsеаrсh Institute.

This drug reduces the time of medical examination of patients from several days to several hours as it detects a neoplasm faster.

“Our goal is to create a line of domestic highly effective drugs both for detection and treatment of cancer and implement them in a real life. The support of Priority 2030 allows us to go further. In particular, we are intending to modify the drug into a treatment drug. To achieve this goal, we will substitute the isotope of 99Tc with rhenium,” notes Mekhman Yusubov, TPU Professor and Head of the Healthcare Engineering Strategic Office.

“If we speak globally, then in nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals, the participation in Priority 2030 will provide us resources in order that we jointly with our partners united in the Healthcare Engineering consortium will be able to conduct an overall complex of biotechnological, pre-clinical and clinical trials of each developed drug. After obtaining a packet of these data and results, we will give technology to the industrial partners for large-scale production. In other words, the research which will be conducted within Priority 2030 will be that research that no one drug producer will be able to complete.”