Master’s theses defense by international students majoring in Mechatronics and Robot Engineering at the Department of Mechatronics and Automation of the Institute of Engineering and Technology took place at South Ural State University.
English-language Master’s degree programme on Mechatronics and Robot Engineering was launched at SUSU in 2016. Mechatronics is an integration of mechanics, electric machines, means of automation, power electronics, microprocessor equipment and software, which is considered to be one of the most prospective and demanded spheres of engineering. This year, the number of international students who completed their study on the programme has significantly increased. 21 student presented their Master’s theses to the Board members as compared to 14 students in the last year.
Leader of the educational programme is Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at SUSU, Doctor of Sciences (Engineering), Professor at the Department of Mechatronics and Automation, Andrey Radionov. The Vice-Rector noted that students who duly presented their Master’s theses will be able to continue pursuing science by getting enrolled for postgraduate studies:
“Students’ papers differ by their diversity: there are Master’s theses regarding renewable power engineering or construction of special-purpose mobile robots, or automation and robotization of production processes. Many student projects are prospective for their further development. Our university gives a chance for the programme graduates to continue studying within postgraduate studies. Last year, there was one international student who got enrolled for postgraduate studies; this year, one more graduate of the Master’s programme is considering this opportunity. For that, we have everything: relevant laboratories, highly-trained academic staff and a Dissertation Board to which a postgrad can submit one’s Candidate’s dissertation and get awarded the title as a Candidate of Sciences in case of its successful defense.”
The Board includes a member of the International Scientific Council, the President and simultaneously Director General of SMS Group Company, Honorable Professor of SUSU, Pino Tese, who reviewed students’ projects with an interest, and noted the uniqueness of the training programme.
“The progress made by students of the Department regarding both the research and the content of theses is very noticeable. I recommend you keep moving in this direction in order to achieve even more success. Such specialists are very in-demand in today’s market. I think that ordinary engineers are gradually fading to the past. Those who step forward are engineers who can complete several tasks simultaneously. Graduates of this major are such specialists exactly. Moreover, many companies today require bilingual employees who can speak two foreign languages, for example, English and Chinese. This programme allows performing training of such unique cadre who can get employed in many countries around the world.”
All members of the Board noted the relevance of topics proposed in students’ Master’s theses. Graduates presented their papers dedicated to operation modernization of an elevator, development of power supply system of a house, design of the system of transporting of nuclear wastes based on a robot manipulator, etc. Many projects can get implemented in real production.
“It is nice to note that all those studying on this programme are so well-trained: they easily navigate within the topic and easily answer the trickiest questions. Metran (Company) is interested in development of computer-aided systems, and many students considered this aspect very thoroughly. Our company readily recruits alumni of SUSU; today we have minimum two workers who graduated from the Department of Mechatronics and Automation. If anyone of the graduating international students expresses one’s interest in building one’s career in our company, we will be happy to consider their candidacy,” said Aleksandr Kenzin, Head of the Department of Control Systems at Metran Industrial Group JSC.
Aside from quality training in engineering disciplines, international students majoring in Mechatronics and Robot Engineering had been learning Russian language, which allows them to become even more in-demand in the labor market. Master’s degree student from Jordan, Ahmad Ali, who completed the programme on Mechatronics and Robot Engineering, told us about the training process:
“I had been studying the major connected with mechatronics for five years in my home country. I like my major, and having gotten the chance to study in Russia three years ago, I started choosing a university that would be the best for me. My friends advised me to get enrolled at SUSU as it provides good education in all spheres, and I am happy to have made sure of it by my own experience. It was very important for me to learn Russian here and acquire a lot of new knowledge on working with software. This will allow me getting a good job in the future.”
Let us note that this year a new admissions started for the English-language programme on Mechatronics and Robot Engineering. Students who study this major at SUSU get an excellent all-round training which in the future allows them solving any problems connected with development, creation and maintenance of computer-aided systems in various industries.
