This week, Vladimir Bogatyrev, Rector of Samara University, held an informal meeting with the prize-winners of the All-Russian engineering competition "InterVuz". In a tough competition against the country's leading engineering universities, students from the Institute of Engine and Power Plant Engineering and the Advanced Aerospace Engineering School won double "silver" in the "Robotics Engineer" and "Production Automation Engineer" categories.
During the meeting, Vladimir Bogatyrev emphasized that Samara University intends to secure a significant position in Russia in the field of robotics. Therefore, he wanted to hear directly from the young engineers what they believe is currently lacking for the development of this field.
Students Maxim Galyarov, Egor Barsukov, Albert Mavlyushev, and Makar Naumov, along with the staff of the Center for Anthropomorphic Robotics who prepared them for the competition—Ilya Borodkin, Mikhail Zagorin, and Olga Zagorina—agreed that participating in the contest demonstrated its immense practical value for the University. It is precisely in the high-pressure environment of such competitions that students learn faster and develop critical engineering thinking. Moreover, these platforms allow industrial robotics partners to reach out to the teams, establish valuable contacts, and exchange best practices.
In this regard, the team proposed establishing a permanent university team dedicated to preparing for olympiads and competitions. They also suggested assigning a dedicated mentor—whether a teacher, staff member, or young scientist—for each specific track, with this mentoring responsibility officially counted towards their primary workload.
In addition, the students proposed creating a unified engineering unit at the University dedicated to the automation of research test benches. In their view, this would help not only in maintaining existing equipment but also in developing new, state-of-the-art test benches, including those commissioned by the university's industrial partners.
The young engineers also emphasized the importance of involving more students in the work of the Center for Anthropomorphic Robotics, including having them complete their coursework and final qualifying projects there, as well as tackling real-world production tasks.
Concluding the conversation, Vladimir Bogatyrev noted that all the initiatives proposed by the young engineers would be put into practice.
Photo: Olesya Orina
