On 11 February, the SPbGASU hosted the Regional Career Guidance Festival "Technical Professions of the 21st Century: Large-Scale Urban Infrastructure." It was attended by 8–11-grade pupils from 30 St Petersburg schools. The pupils directly communicated with representatives of 10 universities and colleges that offer technical specialties and attended their master classes.

The festival is part of the Regional Career Guidance Marathon "Workshops of the Future", which is held as part of the career guidance minimum in general education organizations and the federal project for early career guidance for schoolchildren "Ticket to the Future" with the support of the Education Committee of the Government of St Petersburg.

The festival is organized by the Center for Advanced Professional Training of St Petersburg and the Center for Children's (Youthful) Technical Creativity of the Kirov District of the Northern Capital. Co-organizers are SPbGASU and the St Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design.

The festival consists of two blocks: "Technical Professions of the 21st Century: Large-Scale Urban Industry" and "Technical Professions of the 21st Century: Large-Scale Urban Infrastructure". The blocks are held on different days at different venues.

The festival venue at our university was the building on Serpukhovskaya Street, No. 10, which houses the Institute of Part-Time Studies.

The festival included a business contacts exchange, where the guys received information about technical universities and colleges first-hand. Our university was represented by the Admissions Committee staff. Olga Tatarinova, deputy executive secretary, and Elena Abashina, specialist, talked about the variety of technical fields of study at SPbGASU. They also told about the subjects required for admission, the number of points and individual achievements that are taken into account upon admission, the possibility of entering the university based on the results of Olympiads, and the specifics of creative entrance examinations at the Faculty of Architecture. At the exchange, they could also watch how students of the Faculty of Architecture drew and asked them questions about studying at our university.

According to Natalia Nikolaeva, a class teacher for the tenth grade of the Secondary Comprehensive School No. 187 in Krasnogvardeisky District, the advantage of this event is that schoolchildren can directly communicate with representatives of universities: "We took not only those who would like to enroll in technical programs, but also those who have not yet decided. They were able to ask questions and get answers."

During the master classes, they designed a house using the Russian TIM Renga system, tested water for hardness and lead, designed airplane models, changed brake pads, and worked on a welding simulator.

"It's five o'clock in the morning. You've found yourself in a typical car park..." - with these words, Igor Chernyaev, Head of the SPbGASU Department of Transport Maintenance, began his master class. Having chosen volunteers for the roles of a driver, logistician, mechanic, Igor Olegovich told them what the responsibilities of these specialists were and what knowledge they should have had. The master class leader gave the children difficult tasks: to name the brand of a car by the sound of the engine, to determine which of the containers with different operating materials contained gasoline. As in real life, the participants' time was limited: after all, the longer it takes to choose the right solution, the greater the non-production losses are. At the end of the master class, Igor Olegovich invited them to apply to our university, which has its own car club, training ground, and rally team. "Whatever your interests are, your knowledge will be used in the automotive industry," Igor Chernyaev summed up.

Participants of the career guidance festival received not only useful information, but also many new vivid impressions. The experience gained will be useful to them in their future choice of profession.

The SPbGASU Admissions Committee, responsible for holding the event, thanks the Volunteer Club of our university for its assistance.