Tag: Tomsk Polytechnic University

The Division for the Russian Language of the TPU School of Core Engineering Education with the support of the Division for Information Technology of the TPU School of Computer Science and Robotics have developed a PreTPU application for international enrollees and students. All the relevant information about TPU, news and event announcements can be found via the mobile application.

PreTPU was developed for the Android operating system. Soon it will be available for download on the Play Market platform. The application is designed for two kinds of users: TPU international enrollees and students. The interface is available in Russian and English.

“The application is a digital product entirely developed at TPU. We decided to create it for international students who are thinking to study in Russia, choose TPU and for those international students who are already enrolled at the university.

On PreTPU, we collected and systematized reference information and news what makes searching and viewing the information required for an international student much easier,”

Evgeniya Sherina, Head of the TPU Division for Russian Language, explains.

The application consists of a few sections. International students willing to study at TPU can learn all the information about majors and fields of study of all levels of education, as well as what they must do to be enrolled at the university and how to come to Tomsk. International students will gain access to the timetable, personal account and staff contacts. The service also provides basic information about the university and Tomsk.

“Via the application, professors will be able to send push notifications with important and urgent information for students. In return, students will be able to contact staff directly and ask them questions. It will significantly simplify the communication process,” Evgeniya Sherina adds.

In the long run, it is planned to add some more languages to the interface and make the service more international oriented. Soon developers will add the information in Chinese

The transformation of engineering education in Russia became a key topic of a round table that was held within U-NOVUS’2021, a forum of young scientists at Tomsk Polytechnic University on September 29. Rectors of leading Russian universities training engineers took part in the round table. Dmitry Sednev, Acting Rector of TPU, stated to the journalists before the discussion beginning that the round table must become a starting point for systemic work to unite the best Russian engineering universities in the New Engineering Education of Russia consortium.

“A right final of today’s meeting can be called a launch of new work on creating a consortium. Today, representatives of leading technical universities, who already possess the best practices of engineering education, gathered here. We hope that the TPU initiative to create a consortium will be supported. We will be able to start forming a concept of joint work where leading institutions in the specialized area will search for new models of engineering education, polish up and replicate them nationwide,” Dmitry Sednev, Acting Rector of TPU, said.

Liudmila Ogorodova, Deputy Governor for Scientific and Educational Complex and Digital Transformation, tied up a necessity to transform a system of training new engineers with an update of technologies with which engineers work.

“We see how technologies update, therefore engineering schools must renew as well. Aspirations of any country renew too. Nowadays, Russia thinks globally. Meanwhile, a global challenge is an area of great uncertainty.

I will introduce an example. Today, we got used to that a business partner orders the development of an educational program. When we speak about absolutely new areas such as engineering biology, who will order staff training if there are no such companies yet? Universities must train such staff. Tomsk is a recognized educational center where the training of such staff for the long run is possible,” Luidmila Ogorodova said.

Rectors, vice-rectors and heads of relevant departments of TPU, Tomsk State University, Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Novosibirsk State University and Novosibirsk State Technical University, Ural Federal University, Far Eastern Federal University, National University of Science and Technology MISiS, Tyumen State University, Cherepovets State University, Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University LETI, as well as representatives of the industry: Gazprom Neft and the Science and Technology Center of Gazprom Neft took part in the U-NOVUS’2021 discussion.

“Speaking about what is essential for the development of engineering education, I would emphasize a few important areas. First, it is simulation introduction of company operational environment in the educational process as logic to form an environment for capacity building. Second, these are soft skills and systematic thinking. Third, it is technology entrepreneurship.

Furthermore, it is vital to understand that without the active involvement of companies and interfacing of our activity, it will be challenging to train experts able to transform the industry. Actually, there is a problem that business and the industry transform faster than educational processes and standards.

In that kind of cooperation, in that kind of permanent communication that we have with our partner universities, for instance, with Tomsk Polytechnic University, we are able to form such educational projects and programs,” Pavel Sorokin, Program Head of the Expertise and Functional Development Unit of the Science and Technology Center of Gazprom Neft, said.

New Engineering Education is one of three strategic areas, which are in the focus of TPU for its program development for the next 10 years. Tomsk Polytechnic University was selected for the Priority 2030 program. Priority 2030 is the largest national program to support the development of universities in post-Soviet Russia.

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University have developed and passed to OSTOMED-M, one of the largest implant producers in Russia, unique equipment to apply bioactive and protective coatings on implants and medical instruments.

The R&D was conducted within the Federal Target Program from 2017 to 2019. The funding allocation was approximately 96 million rubles. The TPU scientists designed and produced the equipment (production line) as far back as 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a pass of the equipment to the industrial partner became possible only in 2021, however, as the scientists note it allowed implementing a trial run at TPU. The equipment will be used at a new plant of OSTEOMED-M in Rybinsk, where at the moment, installation of the production line is being carried out at its industrial sites.

“It all started from the participation in a discussion at the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital, where there were discussed introduction ways of our developments into the industry. Leonid Brizhan, Deputy Chief Traumatologist of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and Dmitry Kholyavkin, Chief Executive Officer at OSTEOMED-M, took part in that discussion and told which coatings they were interested in. In case there are no interested doctors, then our work is bound to be unsuccessful. Before we cooperated with this company, however, in much less volume. Some time ago, there was a task received from the doctors: to produce coatings not only on experimental samples but on an industrial scale,” Sergey Tverdokhlebov, Acting Head of the Laboratory for Plasma Hybrid Systems of the TPU School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, said.

These are bioactive calcium phosphate coatings for hip implants and screws for spine surgery. These are implants, which remain in a human body for a long time and which require stable fixation in a bone. Moreover, an essential task is the improvement of an implant survival rate. Based on the terms of reference received from the industrial partner, the TPU scientists not only developed but also improved the unique equipment — an experimental industrial complex for the formation of bioactive and protective coatings on implants and medical instruments, as well as passed the company the results of intellectual activity. It includes a number of technological know-how. It is an electrolyte formulation, a solution, in which coating formation, application processes of bioactive coatings on a hip stem and application processes of protective coatings on spine screws occur.

Furthermore, jointly with Microsplav, a technological partner, there was developed and patented a powerful pulse generator to be a power supply for the installation. Using the development results, it is able to extend a lifetime of a hip implant, as well as to ensure better integration of an implant with a bone.

Calcium phosphate coatings applied on an implant allow not using bone cement, due to bioactive properties, a bone will grow in an implant. According to our calculations, the life time of such implants must increase by 5-10 years.

The problem is that implants, which are inserted in a hip joint, in case of a hip fracture, can loosen after some time. Besides, our equipment having no alternatives in Russia allows applying coatings on temporary implants, for instance, on crews used in spine surgery,” the scientist explains.

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with scientists from National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) proposed a simple method to control and move a photonic nanojet (PNJ) by a ray focusing in a very small local area.

The operation of powerful up-to-date microscopes is based on the PNJ effect. In the long run, the simple method of moving the PNJ in depth may help to accelerate and simplify work with microscopes, increase the depth of field without reducing the quality of scanning. The research findings are published in the Optics Letter academic journal (IF: 3,776; Q1).

“There are small glass spheres in the design of powerful up-to-date microscopes — nanoscopes with the resolution up to 200 nanometers. The sphere focuses on emission, however, at the same time, it remains in the focus point of the lens. Due to this, multiple zooming occurs. To see a new area of the object in its depth, nowadays, the stand is moved with the object. It reduces the research quality and takes a lot of time. We offered to move the PNJ using two metal screens — thin aluminium plates,” Oleg Minin, Professor of the Division for Electronic Engineering of the TPU School of Non-Destructive Testing, a supervisor of the project, says.

The experiments were conducted using a dielectric polymer cube and not the sphere. The size of the cube is only four micrometres. The authors of the article note that the obtained results are also applied to the sphere.

“The plates were located on the sides of the cube. The PNJ moved together with the movement of these metal screens. Moreover, we fixed that the length and width of generated PNJs decreased almost in two folds in case of screen presence, which in the long run will allow changing both its resolution and the focus position in the process of microscope operation. At the same time, the resolution of the PNJ increased by 1,2 folds. Furthermore, by changing the width of plates, it is possible to change the PNJ focal length, i.e. to scan the focus area in-depth, to view objects in the third dimension,” the scientist explains.

During the experiments conducted, the plates were moved manually. According to scientists, in the future, this process can be automated.

“It is an extremely simple solution. Due to the lower cost of these dielectric cubes, they can be used for obtaining the PNJ effect not only in microscopes but also in modern integrated optical circuits, optical switches, lithography systems and so on,” Oleg Minin says.

Tomsk Polytechnic University has become a member of a new consortium entitled Network Pre-University Faculty for Foreign Citizens. The consortium unites five leading universities, which jointly create and will implement a unique program of training international attendees to study bachelor’s, master’s degree and PhD programs in Russian at Russian universities.

The members of the consortium became Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, Voronezh State University, Moscow State University of Technology “STANKIN”, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

“These are universities possessing long-term and successful experience of training international students, as well as possessing preparatory divisions and faculties in their structure. A few years ago, we cooperated with Pushkin State Russian Language Institute in the project of creating a LMS platform entitled Education in Russian. TPU designed online courses in Mathematics, Physics and Informatics. As the result, there was a decision to enlarge a project and create a united network preparatory course,” Evgenia Sherina, Head of the Division for Russian Language of the TPU School of Core Engineering Education, says.

The course duration is 10 months. It will include classes with professors in the distance-learning mode and access to online courses for learning Russian and major subjects in Russian. For instance, training programs to study a bachelor’s degree will be designed in five areas: Humanities (Russian, Literature, History, Social Studies), Economics (Russian, Mathematics, History, Social Studies), Biomedical (Russian, Chemistry, Biology, Physics), Natural Science (Russian, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry), Technical (Russian, Mathematics, Physics, Informatics).

“At the moment, the consortium members are finishing the design of the courses and reviewing them. The most important is that an international attendee enrolling on the Network Pre-University Faculty can choose a definite university, which will coordinate his training, however, at the same time, he can use the resources of all member universities, have classes with highly qualified professors using all the most up-to-date communication and information technologies. Attendees will also have an opportunity to take part in online events of the member universities of the consortium such as speaking clubs, conferences, academic competitions,” Evgenia Sherina adds.

After completing a training program of the Network Pre-University Faculty, international students will obtain a certificate giving an opportunity to start a bachelor’s or master’s degree at any Russian university where there is a preparatory division. The attendees can choose any member university of the consortium to continue their education as well.

“For TPU, joining a consortium allows extending cooperation with Russian universities, which strength is educational programs for international students. We also will be able to attract more motivated students from different countries, therefore, students will be able to choose our programs.

Furthermore, the consortium members will work with the Russian universities to share the experience of teaching international students. We are willing to give assistance to professors in professional development,” Marina Nebera, Head of the TPU Pre-University Department.

All the information about the areas of work of the consortium, enrollment requirements and university data will be released on the special website. It is planned that the website will be launched in September.

A joint project of Tomsk Polytechnic University and Heriot-Watt University combines high-quality petroleum education, geosciences and real-world oil and gas projects.

The Petroleum Learning Center was established at Tomsk Polytechnic University in 2001. It was one of the first endeavours for Heriot-Watt University in global expansion and became the first institution in Russia to train petroleum-engineering specialists according to international standards.

The first students of the Petroleum Engineering Master’s Degree course commenced studies on October 1, 2001. Since 2003, the Petroleum Learning Center has been providing another Masters’ Degree course in Reservoir Evaluation and Management. In 2006, the paired degrees course of TPU and Heriot-Watt gained traction.

“At the time of opening and up until now, all the aspects of teaching: course content, study materials, qualification requirements for tutors have been the same in Tomsk and Edinburgh, the home city of Heriot-Watt. Over 1,100 graduates completed their studies at the Petroleum Learning Center and obtained degrees from Heriot-Watt University. Among them are top managers and executives of leading Russian energy companies, many of the graduates work abroad,”  said Valery Rukavishnikov, Head of the Petroleum Learning Center.

Annually, the Petroleum Learning Center holds about 20 open events related to petroleum engineering and geosciences. One of the flagship projects is the OilCase championship, where more than 3,000 students and young professionals tackled various case study problems related to hydrocarbon exploration and oil field development. The championship has been held annually since 2018, and currently is the largest event of such kind in Russia.

The PLC experts also designed a free online course on the fundamentals of petroleum engineering, with over 6,000 participants from across 35 countries. At the moment, the MOOC is available in English on Coursera. The Petroleum Learning Center is home to the local Society of Petroleum Engineers and European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers chapters.

The experts and academics of the Petroleum Learning Center maintain close ties with the petroleum industry in Russia. They not only provide training and further development courses to employees of more than 50 companies but also conduct various research and development projects. These include oil field development and hydrocarbon prospects estimation, geochemical and core analysis, big data processing and predictive analytics related to petroleum engineering. Since 2003, over 200 projects of various complexity have been completed.

“The most important is that the cooperation between Tomsk Polytechnic University and Heriot-Watt University resulted in the creation of a unique place where students, academic staff and industry experts share the same values and work in a team. The ongoing efforts of two world-renowned institutions make a significant contribution to shaping the next generation of the professional community in Russia ready for rapid change and evolvement,” said Valery Rukavishnikov, Head of the Petroleum Learning Center.

On July 5, representatives of over 60 Japanese organizations and companies, including Toyota, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and others, discussed the development of the market of hydrogen technologies in the online mode. Experts of Tomsk Polytechnic University became invited speakers of the webinar that was arranged by the Japan Association for Trade with Russia & NIS (ROTOBO). They told about the Russian initiatives in low-carbon energy, particularly about the work of the Consortium of Hydrogen Technologies and the university developments.

It should be mentioned that the Consortium of Hydrogen Technologies was created in Russia in November 2020 under the initiatives of the universities jointly with the Russian Academy of Sciences with the support of executive authorities and industrial companies. Its co-founders and first members became the Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Tomsk Polytechnic University, Sakhalin State University, Samara State Technical University.

Dmitry Sednev, Acting Rector, Co-chairman of the Coordinating Council of the Consortium, told the Japanese colleagues about the current work on Thursday, July 5.

“Creating the Russian Consortium, of course, we became familiar with the global experience. The analysis showed us that in many countries research organizations and companies jointly develop hydrogen technologies,” Dmitry Sednev noted.

“We can see that the implementation of such significant initiatives as forming the market of the hydrogen economy, hydrogen involvement in various areas of the industry is a backbreaking task for only one organization.”

“This work is comparable with national space programs or atomic projects. Implementing such a task is possible only jointly, united the efforts of a large number of diverse organizations. The Russian Consortium of Hydrogen Technologies was initially created as a distributed structure. Its members locate in different regions of Russia, from Moscow to Sakhalin,” Dmitry Sednev said.

The Consortium has already united over 20 Russian universities and research institutes, as well as 16 industrial partners. By today, the working parties have been formed from the Consortium members. These working parties study technological obstacles delaying the introduction of specific technologies and products at the market, as well as the introduction of proposals to tide over these obstacles. Based on the results of the work, there will be presented a public analytical report on promises of the development of hydrogen technologies in Russia.

“It will be a document reflecting the technological condition of the hydrogen economy in Russia. As the Consortium includes all key members both industrial, science and technological ones, I believe that this report will best reflect the circumstances in Russia at the moment. I am sure that we will have an opportunity to publicly present our report at one of the important events devoted to the hydrogen economy. Moreover, the report will be released on the Consortium website,” said Dmitry Sednev answering the questions of the webinar members.

The universities, which joined the Consortium, possess significant groundwork in hydrogen technologies. Over 150 scientists and engineers conducting their research in hydrogen economy work at TPU.

“For the last 20 years, the research groups of TPU and academic organizations of Tomsk Oblast have accumulated their technological and research groundwork in hydrogen economy enough to be integrated into the process flow of creation of hydrogen economy. TPU possesses groundworks on all the elements of the process flow from hydrogen production, storage, transmission and to application,” said Andrey Lider, Head of the TPU Division for Experimental Physics.

The technologies of creation thin-film electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells, hydrogen fuel cells based on polymeric membranes to produce green hydrogen, plasma conversion technologies to produce turquoise and grey hydrogen, treatment processes of solid fuel to produce brown hydrogen, which are technologies for hydrogen transmission and storage, are at the different stages of implementation.