Stage IV (November 18, 1997 – October 23, 2015)

South Ural State University: meeting the challenges

A new stage in the development of the University begins with the opening of new faculties and departments.

May 28, 2002 - Faculty of Architecture, Dean - Doctor of Architecture, Professor Salavat Galievich Shabiev.

June 25, 2003 - Faculty of Law, Dean - Doctor of Law, Professor Vladimir Ivanovich Maiorov.

October 15, 2003 - Faculty of Physics, Dean - Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor Natalia Dmitrievna Kundikova.

October 15, 2003 - Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics (today - Faculty of Mathematics, Mechanics and Computer Science), Dean - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Aleksandr Dmitrievich Drozin.

On October 23, 2002 - Institute of Open and Distance Education was established at SUSU, and on August 17, 2004 – Institute of Supplementary Education.

In 2001, SUSU Radio and Television Center was opened. On May 30, 2003 the order "On establishment of the Structural Division "SUSU-TV" Television Company" was signed. Sergey Ivanovich Gordienko was appointed the Director of the Television Company. On December 21, 2005, the Training Radio Studio was opened.

A new stage of the University development begins in 2005, due to the change of the University leadership. German Platonovich Vyatkin becomes the SUSU President. Alexander Leonidovich Shestakov becomes the SUSU Rector .

October 2, 2006 - Faculty of History, Dean - Doctor of Arts, Professor Natalia Vladimirovna Parfentieva.

October 2, 2006 - Faculty of Journalism, Dean - PhD in Historical Sciences, Professor Lyudmila Petrovna Shesterkina.

October 2, 2007 - Faculty of Chemistry, Dean - Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor Vyacheslav Viktorovich Avdin.

2009 - Faculty of Food Technologies, Dean - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor Abduvali Djabarovich Toshev.

January 31, 2011 - Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Informatics, Dean - Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor Leonid Borisovich Sokolinsky.

May 5, 2011 - Faculty of Law Enforcement Preparation, Dean - PhD in History, Vladimir Nikolayevich Maysak.

February 11, 2010 - Institute for International Education.

February 27, 2013 - Institute of Sports, Tourism and Service.

February 27, 2013 - Institute of Economics, Trade and Technology.

In 2006, the Regional Center for Student Employment Promotion was established.

On October 26, 2006, the non-profit partnership "Technopark SUSU-Polet" began its work.

On January 17, 2008, the first Prime Minister of the Government of Russia D.A. Medvedev paid a working visit to SUSU.

In 1999, the University opened an independent structural unit, the Art Center. Nowadays, dozens of artistic groups function at SUSU, including Maneken Theatre Studio, Ballroom Dance Ensemble, Primavera Choir, Deep Vision dance group, Folkton music theatre, and others.

The groups have repeatedly become laureates of international, all-Russian, regional, and city festivals and competitions. The annual festival of student creativity "SUSU Spring" finds huge resonance in the cultural and social life not only in Chelyabinsk and Russia, but also abroad.

For more than 30 years, the student philharmonia has been functioning at SUSU, which organizes concerts of the best performers of Russia and foreign countries. The stage of SUSU Assembly Hall held concerts of the outstanding groups of Russia and foreign countries. Fans of Russian rock should be pleased with the fact that the legendary group "Kino" called the students of ChPI for changes. Also People's Artist of the USSR Leonid Utyosov, the performer of all favorite romances ("Odessit Mishka" and hundreds of others), starring in the first music clip in the world and the USSR, also appeared on the stage. World-famous Italian singer Robertino Loretti, while on tour in Chelyabinsk, performed only in SUSU, despite the variety of good concert venues in the city.

On the stage of the Assembly Hall performed: film and theatre actor Alexander Filippenko; Bards Yuri Vizbor, Aleksandr Rosenbaum, Aleksandr Dolsky, Viktor Berkovsky, Andrei Kramarenko; pianists Svyatoslav Richter, Denis Matsuev, Rem Urasin; violinist Dmitrii Kogan; popular performers Iosif Kobzon, VIA (vocal and instrumental ensemble) "Ariel"; predictor Wolf Messing, who performed in the USSR with psychological experiments on spectators mind-reading; the Tchaikovsky Great Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra Virtuoso  of Verona (Italy), the US Air Force Orchestra and many others.

International Education at SUSU

Development of international education at the University began with the opening of The Open University Business School of Great Britain at the International Faculty (Dean V.P. Gorshenin). At the moment, the following programs of the Open University of Great Britain are being implemented at the faculty: "MBA Strategy", "Management in Action", "Professional Management Certificate", and "Bachelor of Business Administration".

In 2010, Institute for International Education was established in SUSU.

The key training areas at the Institute for International Education are:

Education in Russian and English for 1.5 to 2 years allows Master's students to study one or two semesters at Clark University, to complete their professional internship there.

• Academic mobility programs on student exchange are being implemented. Exchange programs allow SUSU students to attend part of the course abroad in a partner university in many countries of Europe, China, the United States.
• Together with the Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland), SUSU implements joint educational programs for the preparation of masters in innovative energy technologies.
• Summer language schools are organized in France, Czech Republic, Germany, China, Slovakia, Finland.

 

Year by year, more and more foreign students from Vietnam, Germany, Iran, Yemen, China, Mongolia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, as well as from the CIS countries: Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine come to study at SUSU. Students from more than 20 countries study at SUSU.

The Department of Professional Translation and Documents functions at SUSU, where the translation of the Diploma of higher education Supplement on the European model into a foreign language is carried out. Such diploma is accepted by all universities of the United States and recognized by all universities in Europe. The Department also translates research papers and articles for international conferences and journals.

For 37 years, the Scientific Production Institute "Educational Equipment and Technology" has been operating at SUSU. During this time, the Institute has become a leader in the development, production and supply of high-tech educational equipment for universities, colleges, technical schools, lyceum schools of Russia and the CIS countries. The Institute is headed by Professor, Ph.D. in Technical Sciences Georgy Illarionovich Kalyagin. On the basis of the educational materials of the Institute, in the framework of the national project "Education", 25 resource centers have been established on the basis of SUSU in the basic areas of vocational training, as well as the research production complex "The Russian Education Industry".

 

Each year, 30-40 samples of innovative products are created here that can compete on the global educational market of intellectual labour.

In 2013,SUSU developed the following innovative samples:

• simulator "Crane operator";
• simulator "Excavator operator";
• simulator "Aircaft pilot";
• simulator "Hot rolling mill operator" (introduced at Sinarsky pipe plant);
• simulator "Automated gas boiler house";
• simulator "Heat and gas dynamics of the launch complex of "Proton rockets" (Baikonur);
• simulator "Automated pasta factory";
• laboratory complex "Digital substation" and others.

The Institute has developed about 3,000 laboratories and their modifications, including more than 1000 high-tech ones (booths, emulators, modules of training equipment, etc.), so far. Every year, the Institute carries out about 500-600 deliveries of its products to various educational institutions.

In 2007, SUSU was involved in the implementation of the nation-wide project "Education". Two years later, on a competitive basis, the university received a federal grant for the implementation of the innovative educational program "Energy and Resource-Saving Technologies". In 2008, the University got a grand prix in the competition for innovative solutions and was recognized as the best among the universities participating in the national project "Education" in the field of logistic and maintenance support of educational institutions.

In the framework of the "Education" project, the Supercomputer Modeling Laboratory (headed by Leonid Borisovich Sokolinsky), the research and educational centers "Nanotechnology" (headed by Vyacheslav Viktorovich Avdin) and "Mechanical Engineering" (headed by Ramil Agzamovich Zakirov), the Center for collective use in energy and energy efficiency were created.

In April 2010, SUSU became one of 15 universities in Russia, which were awarded the status of "National Research University". From this moment, a new period in SUSU development has begun in more severe competition conditions of rankings, globalization, market relations in the sphere of intellectual services. In the framework of the NRU, the supercomputer center and the REC "Nanotechnologies" were additionally equipped, and the REC "Mechanical Engineering" was refined. 

In the framework of the National Research University, new research and educational centers and laboratories were established at SUSU:

• REC "Composite materials and structures" (headed by Aleksandr Bezhanovich Shirokov, director of the Project Management Center).
• SEC "Experimental Mechanics" (headed by Ph.D. Pavel Aleksandrovich Taranenko).
• Laboratory of Physical Modeling of Thermomechanical Processes (headed by Mikhail Igorevich Gaslenko).

These are the largest, key centers. In total, there are 40 research and educational centers and laboratories at SUSU.

Research and educational centers are designed to solve complex problems:

1. Implementation of scientific research at a global scale. For this purpose, unique long term operation equipment was bought, which allows carrying out innovative developments. This equipment is in a single copy not only in Russia, but also abroad;

2. Organization of educational activities, training of students (bachelors, masters, PhD students) using modern research complexes. This gives students an opportunity to unlock their scientific potential, working on unique equipment under the supervision of highly professional teachers and scientists.

As a result, the university priority development fields were identified:

1. Energy saving in the social sphere,
2. Rational use of resources and energy in metallurgy,
3. Energy and resource-efficient technologies in diesel engine manufacturing for armored and engineering vehicles,
4. Resource-efficient technologies for the development and operation of sea-launched ballistic missile complexes,
5. Supercomputer and grid technologies for solving energy and resource-saving problems.

By the Government decree No. 218 ("On Measures of State Support for Cooperation of Russian Higher Education Institutions and Organizations for the Implementation of Complex Projects in High-Tech Production" dated April 9, 2012), SUSU together with FSUE Plant "Pribor" designed an intelligent automated technological complex of buildings heat and energy systems control.

In the course of the project implementation, the following projects were developed:

• Unattended technology of a building power supply control on the basis of digital wireless data transmission;
• Automated climate control system in the apartment on the basis of individual adjustment;
• Block-modular heat point with intelligent control and regulation devices;
• The system of automated balancing of intra-house networks taking into account the thermal state of the building.

The demand for these developments is determined by the fact that their implementation will reduce the total annual consumption of heat energy to 30%, and will also automatically provide reliable information on heat energy consumption for heat generation planning and market regulation.

In 2013, SUSU won contests for three more projects:

1. In cooperation with JSC "Chelyabinsk Radio Plant "Polet" it is planned to develop software and hardware for landing aircraft of civil aviation under unfavorable meteorological conditions.

2. In 2013-2015, REC "Experimental Mechanics" was involved in implementation of research and development work on the comprehensive project "Creation of high-tech manufacturing of a model range of energy-efficient low-floor tramcars of modular design" in cooperation with the branch of Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center the Federal State Unitary Enterprise S. M. Kirov Ust-Katav Carriage Works"

3. Cooperation with JSC "Special Design Bureau "Turbina" in the fields of  development of energy-efficient micro-gas turbine units (MSTU). The unique installation is designed to meet the needs of enterprises of fuel and energy complex, construction, manufacturing industry in autonomous energy-conserving sources of energy saving. For these works Instrumentation Engineering, Mechanical and technological, Energy, Aerospace faculties of SUSU are involved.

An important milestone in the modern history of the University is the execution of a triple agreement between SUSU, the Russian company for measurement equipment production "Metran" and the American company "Emerson". Emerson specialists investigated the market of China, Southeast Asia, India and Eastern Europe in search of a place to establish an engineering center and chose the laboratories of South Ural State University.

In accordance with this agreement, the Engineering Center was set up in Chelyabinsk to develop new measurement equipment to sell in the world market.

By now, SUSU has conducted more than 20 research projects commissioned by "Emerson". The company supports grants for scientific research of students and PhD students of SUSU and hires them.

The next step in enhancing cooperation is the University participation in a research project related to the oil and gas fields’ development in isolated northern regions. By 2015, it was planned to open a new modern office and manufacturing complex "Emerson" - a factory for "smart" equipment production, which produces intelligent sensors for pressure, flow, temperature, metrological equipment, communicators, etc.

At the current stage of the University development, the existing buildings are renewed and new academic buildings and scientific laboratories are established of the University:

• Buildings for Faculties of Chemistry, Physics, and Law, as well as the Faculty of Food Technology are constructed;
• New building for SUSU Publishing Center;
• "Sigma" University complex;
• Buildings of SUSU Branches in Snezhinsk, Asha, Miass.

In February 2013, Institute of Sports, Tourism and Service was established, which included the Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports, the Faculty of Service and Tourism, and the Sports and Training Centre. The Sports and Training Centre includes a sports complex, a swimming pool, educational buildings, about 15 gyms, an athletics arena, a gym, a swimming school for children and young people.

SUSU has an effective system of graduate employment, including the organization of student internships during their studies at the University and support of career growth of young specialists after graduation from the University.

On the basis of the Division for Extra-Curricular activities and in cooperation with the Faculty of Psychology, the Consultative Center "SUSU TOP 500" was established, which issues rankings of the most successful SUSU students.

Today SUSU is a universal University:

• it is a multidisciplinary and widely oriented University;
• SUSU meets the challenges of time educating highly demanded specialists and expanding international relations;
• SUSU University is future-oriented in its choice of development strategies;
• SUSU focuses on education, research and innovation, but also promotes patriotism and spiritual development.

Nowadays, SUSU successfully meets the program indicators. The greatest results have been achieved in the research and in the development of scientific and technical potential. The volume of research and development work has dramatically increased. In 2012, SUSU received 99 patents for its own developments. The number of SUSU research articles has increased in the bibliographic databases of RINC (Russian Science Citation Index), "Scopus" and "Web of science".

Unique scientific and experimental equipment, highly professional academic staff and cooperation with enterprises of the real sector of economy make it possible for SUSU to hold the position of the regional innovation center.

Today the University sets the following tasks:

1. To promote the development of research and education centers, laboratories and scientific schools at SUSU; to solve research problems in the real sector of economy and industry;

2. To raise the international level of the University development and take the leading position in the academic and scientific world.