Year of Science and Technology at SPbGASU
The Year of Science and Technology is coming to an end in Russia. For St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, it became a year of bright events, significant victories and achievements.
We set as our goal to convey to the youth the importance and significance of scientific research and development, to unlock the potential of teachers, students and young scientists as fully as possible. BIM-technologies, increasing the accessibility of the Arctic territories, the development of a comfortable urban environment and other relevant topics were the focus of our researchers. I am confident that next year, which will be an anniversary for our university, we will successfully continue what we started and improve what has been achieved.
Scientific events at SPbGASU
From February 9 to 13, the university hosted participants in the All-Russian Youth Educational Forum "Young Intellectuals of Russia 2021". Intellectual competitions were organized in five areas: technical subjects, humanities and socio-economic disciplines, philology and medicine..
In March, the 3rd International Scientific and Practical Conference "Reconstruction and restoration of architectural heritage" worked at the university. Among its organizers were the Madrid Polytechnic University, the Higher Technical School of Architecture in Madrid, the Higher School of Civil Engineering, Roads, Canals and Bridges (Spain). The meeting participants exchanged best practices and ideas in the field of cultural heritage preservation, identified promising areas for future cooperation and joint work.
On April 7, the 18th All-Russian Interuniversity Conference of Young Researchers (schoolchildren and students) “Education. Science. Profession" opened at SPbGASU. Our university was visited by 35 students from different cities. The participants defended their research papers and projects in front of a jury consisting of representatives of public organizations, university professors, and practicing professionals.
On April 20, the XI Regional Creative Forum with international participation "Architectural Seasons at SPbGASU" opened. It brought together undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students, young scientists and leading architects.
The All-Russian Youth Scientific and Practical Conference "Technology and Organization of Construction Production" was held at the university on April 28–29. Scientific and practical works of young researchers were presented.
On May 19–21, SPbGASU hosted the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Engineering, Construction, and Infrastructure Solutions for Innovative Medical Facilities” (ECSF 2021), organized jointly with the Association of Specialists in Molecular Medicine, Medical and Laboratory Genetics named after professor Evgeny Schwartz.
The international conference“Arctic Transport Accessibility: Networks and Systems” (ATA 2021), organized at SPbGASU on June 2–4, brought together scientists, business leaders, and government representatives. More than 200 participants discussed increasing the accessibility of the Arctic regions, the development of sustainable transport systems.
The first of the online lectures held by SPbGASU and the University of Minho (Portugal) took place on September 14. The professor at the Minho University José C. Matos and Associate Professor at the SPbGASU Department of Roads, Bridges and Tunnels, Head of the Transport Structures Life-Cycle Department at Transmost JSC Anton Syrkov spoke about the reliability and safety of bridges.
On September 29–30, SPbGASU hosted the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Arctic Territorial Development: Challenges & Solutions” (ARCTD 2021). It was attended by representatives of Russia, Norway, Finland, Japan, the USA.
The regional interactive science festival was organized at the university on October 11 by the Council of Young Scientists of SPbGASU. By visiting the university's official social media pages one could learn about the scientific and educational activities of the faculties
On 27–29 October, the university hosted the International Scientific and Technical Conference “Geotechnics Fundamentals and Applications in Construction: New Materials, Structures, Technologies and Calculations” (GFAC 2021).
In December, the All-Russian open creative competition "ArchConcept" was held at the university. The topic "University of the Future" attracted attention of students, teachers and schoolchildren from all over Russia.
Demonstration of VR glasses at the VIII International Forum and Exhibition 100+ TechnoBuild (on the left – Omar Shakshak, specialist of the Scientific and Educational Center for Occupational Safety in Construction of SPbGASU)
"Smart Labour" training facility
One of the first notable events in 2021 was the receipt of a state registration certificate for the Smart Labour computer program. The program operates on the basis of virtual reality technologies, which allow students to simulate facing harmful and hazardous factors of the industrial environment and working process on the construction site. The program is used at the training facility of the same name, built within the framework of the international SAFECON project at the university's training base in Krasnoye Selo. The project is part of the cross-border cooperation program "Russia - South-East Finland 2014-2020" and is funded by the European Union, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Finland.
On March 26, a test class at the Smart Labour training facility was attended by representatives of the construction industry, labour protection specialists, employees of training centers for retraining and advanced training in the field of labour protection. The visitors got acquainted with nine installations on traumatic situations in construction. After the class, a discussion was held with the developers - teachers of the Department of Technosphere Safety of SPbGASU.
The 5th Specialized Exhibition “Work. Safety. Security. Staff" took place within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Labour Forum, which was held on April 22–23 at the Expoforum Convention and Exhibition Center. SPbGASU presented materials about the Smart Labour trainig site at the exhibition.
The "Smart Labour" training facility and virtual training program were also presented at the strategic session “Enhancing the Role of Self-Regulation in Implementing Strategic Planning Documents of the Russian Federation” and at the 20th National Congress of Self-Regulatory Organizations in the Construction Industry, held on September 13-14 in Moscow.
On September 29, the "Smart Labour" Safety Training Park was opened at the training facility in Krasnoye Selo. It will help companies, professional and higher educational institutions develop their labour safety practices to a new level and, as a result, increase labour productivity. Representatives of the government of St. Petersburg, heads of construction organizations, teachers and students took part in the grand opening.
Representatives of SPbGASU participated in the 8th International Forum and Exhibition 100+ TechnoBuild, which took place on October 5–7 in Ekaterinburg. At the round table "New Personnel for the Construction Industry", organised by the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering and the Russian Ministry of Construction, representatives of the university spoke about the experience of project-based training in information modeling using the example of the SPbGASU BIM championship. The exhibition stand of SPbGASU was dedicated to the Smart Labour training facility. The computer training program "Smart Labour", developed on the basis of VR technologies for distance learning in an interactive environment, was presented.
Opening of the qualifying BIM championship
Development and mastering of BIM-technologies
Within the framework of the BIM-ICE project, funded by a grant from the Cross-Border Cooperation Program "Russia - South-Eastern Finland 2014-2020", a qualifying BIM championship was held in the Laboratory of Digital Information Models in Construction at SPbGASU from April 19 to April 24.
On April 21-23, the 4th International Scientific and Practical Conference "BIM in Construction and Architecture" (BIMAC-2021) was held within the framework of the BIM-ICE project. The purpose of the conference was to review current achievements and exchange experience in the field of BIM-modeling in relation to the tasks of the construction profile related to the design, construction and operation of buildings, as well as education, the regulatory framework and economic aspects of the issue.
On June 11, the National Association of Surveyors and Designers (NOPRIZ) and St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering held a working meeting. The meeting was devoted to discussing the preparations for the federal stage of the BIM Championship 2021 sponsored by NOPRIZ. NOPRIZ President Mikhail Posokhin expressed his readiness to support the project and allocate funding for its implementation.
From October 11 to November 8, the All-Russian BIM Championship was held at our university. The teams designed a transport hub building in St. Petersburg and, among other things, created its information model. The SPbGASU team became the winner of the Championship.
From October 25 to October 30, Ekaterinburg hosted the 8th National Championship of cross-industry professions in high-tech industries according to the WorldSkills (WorldSkills Hi-Tech) methodology. The SPbGASU team took part in the Engineering Design category. Our participants took the 10th place in the team standings. In the section "Information Modeling of Buildings and Structures", postgraduate student Yuri Zgoda took the fourth place.
On November 29 - December 4, in the laboratory of construction digital information models at SPbGASU, an extended training session of the WorldSkills Russia team took place within the competence of Digital Construction.
Yuri Uglenko, Yuri Zgoda, Yuri Stolbikhin, Olga Gritsenko, Maxim Smirnov and Anton Timoshkov
at WorldSkills Hi-Tech
SPbGASU success at the 9th CASE-IN International Engineering Championship
Students of our university took part in the qualifying stage of the 9th CASE-IN International Engineering Championship, which is part of the presidential platform "Russia, Land of Opportunities". The first place and a ticket to the semi-finals of the championship was given to the "Guys from our yard" team consisting of Artemy Taranov (team captain), Arina Miklyaeva, Anna Fedorova and Dmitry Blinov. Silver medals and a qualification to the semifinal went to the PIKA team, which included Anna Belova (captain), Ksenia Fadina, Polina Zaitseva and Ilya Grigoriev. The K4AU team became the bronze medalist of the qualifying stage. Team members are Mikhail Muslivets (captain), Dmitry Ivkov, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Anastasia Konovalova.
On April 8, the solemn awarding ceremony for the winners and participants of the qualifying stage of the 9th CASE-IN International Engineering Championship in the Project Engineering category took place at SPbGASU.
On April 14, the semi-final of the 9th CASE-IN International Engineering Championship of the North-West Federal District was held within the Project Engineering category. "Guys from our yard" took the fourth place, the "PIKA" team is the fifth.
The final of the 9th CASE-IN International Engineering Championship was held from May 31 to June 2 in Moscow. SPbGASU was represented by two teams - "Guys from our yard" and "PIKA". "Guys from our yard" became bronze medalists of the competition in the Project Engineering category.
Winners of the All-Russian Student Olympiad "Advanced Technologies in Energy Saving":
Mikhail Serov, Vladimir Kozyrin, Nadezhda Kosareva, Ilya Gilev and Aleksandr Epishkin, the team leader, Associate Professor of the Department of Electrical Power and Engineering
University wins
Saint Petersburg state unitary enterprise "Gorelectrotrans" hosted an award ceremony for the winners of the "New People – New Transport" student case championship, in which the SPbGASU team took the second place.
The 30th International Contest for the best qualifying papers in architecture, design and arts took place on September 18–25 in Tambov. Graduating departments of the Faculty of Architecture of SPbGASU submitted 47 projects for the competition. 41 of them were awarded first-degree diplomas and six papers received second-degree diplomas. The project by Alyona Matasova "The spatial concept for the ecological and urban planning transformation of the Izhora river bank performed under the supervision of Svetlana Levoshko, Associate Professor at the Department of Urban Planning, received the highest award of the contest - a diploma of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences (RAACS).
On October 11, the results of the International Student Competition in Architectural Design and Digital Modeling BRAUIC-2021 were announced. The winner in the Architectural Design category was Dmitry Zinenkov with his Master's thesis, which was written at the SPbGASU Department of Architectural Design.
The ‘Eco-Builders’ student team represented SPbGASU in the Youth Global Energy Outlook competition, which was held from April to October with the support of the Russian Ministry of Energy. Following the final online presentations in the category "Students", our team took third place.
On November 24, the results of the competition “Student of the Year 2021" in the Higher Education System of St. Petersburg” were announced at the “Boiling Point - PromTechDesign” public space. A second-year Master's student of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture Antonia Angelova won in the category "Best Organization of International and Inter-Ethnic Cooperation". Egor Anikin, a first-year master's student of the Faculty of Economics and Management, became the best in organizing the activities of student labor squads.
On 25 November, results of the creative competition held as part of the 6th All-Russian Festival "Drivers of Modern City Development" by Mosstroyinform were announced. SPbGASU students won diplomas of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degrees and were awarded special prizes.
According to the results of the International Professional Competition organised by the National Association of Surveyors and Designers (NOPRIZ) for the best project in 2021 in the category "Best Unimplemented Design Concept" (sub-category "Projects presented by students and postgraduates of specialized universities, young architects"), six projects created by students and graduates of the Faculty of Architecture of SPbGASU won the first prize. The second place was taken by three of our projects, and six projects were awarded diplomas in this category. The laureates were awarded on November 30 at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.
According to the results of the 2021 competition for St. Petersburg Government awards in the field of scientific and pedagogical activities, held by the Committee for Science and Higher Education of the Government of St. Petersburg, in the field of "Humanities and socio-economic sciences", two SPbGASU teachers were awarded prizes: Associate Professor of the Department of Construction Economics and Housing and Utility Infrastructure Timur Ablyazov and post-graduate student, assistant of the Department of Construction Economics and Housing and Utility Infrastructure Yuri Tsvetkov.
The SPbGASU team took the second place in the team standings at the final stage of the All-Russian Student Olympiad "Advanced Technologies in Energy Saving". In the individual standings, the absolute third place belongs to the team leader Ilya Gilyov. The final took place on December 7-10 in an online format on the basis of the Kazan State Power Engineering University.
The first all-Russian competition “Student of the Year. Architects" took place in December, 14–18. Eight students of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture were among the finalists. Anastasia Atamuratova, a student of the SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture, became the Grand Prix winner. Nina Petukhova, Associate Professor of the SPbGASU Department of Architectural and Urban Planning Heritage, was invited to the jury.
On December 20, the management of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg held a meeting with students from the Baltic countries who became the winners of the competition for nominal scholarships from the Northern Capital Government in the 2021/2022 academic year. Among them are Anastasia Loskutova, Igor Loginov and Ilya Smirnovs, SPbGASU students.
Alexey Marusin and Timur Ablyazov at the Congress of Young Scientists
SPbGASU is a participant of projects, conferences, congresses, exhibitions, and forums
An important event of the outgoing year was the participation of the university in the Strategic Academic Leadership Program "Priority 2030".
The issues of creative economy for sustainable development of St. Petersburg and the North-West Federal District of the Russian Federation were the main theme of the Knowledge Forum 2021, which took place on 28–30 September. Within the framework of the forum, the "City XXII" hackathon was held, in which SPbGASU students took part.
On December 2–4, the city of Innopolis (Tatarstan) hosted the Digital Innopolis Days forum. Director of the Laboratory of Digital Information Models in Construction Denis Nizhegorodtsev and Director of the Institute of Continuing Education and Professional Retraining Victoria Vinogradova presented a report “On the development of educational content of the partner module within the OOC project” at the meeting of the Construction working group. Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services Inna Sukhanova and Denis Nizhegorodtsev spoke at the round table "Information Modeling Technologies in Education", highlighting the experience of implementing BIM technologies in the educational process of SPbGASU.
Representatives of SPbGASU Faculty of Architecture participated in the XI International Forum "Arctic: Present and Future", which was held on December 2-4 at the St. Petersburg Expoforum convention and exhibition center. Yana Elizarova, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architectural Environment and Landscape Design (AELD), Aleksandra Eremeeva, Associate Professor at the AELD department, and Yulia Yankovskaya, Head of the Department of Urban Planning, took part in the workshop “Beloved city: creating a comfortable environment for life in the North. Projects and practices of urban design and improvement in the Arctic”.
The Congress of Young Scientists, which is capping off the Year of Science and Technology in Russia, was held on December 8–9 at the Sirius federal territory in Sochi. SPbGASU was represented at the congress by Associate Professor of the Department of Construction Economics and Housing and Utility Infrastructure Timur Ablyazov and Associate Professor of the Department of Transport Maintenance Aleksey Marusin.
At the end of the year Timur Ablyazov, Associate Professor of the SPbGASU Department of Construction Economics and Housing and Utility Infrastructure, visited the EXPO-2020 exhibition in Dubai. The trip was organized as part of the research work "Application of an interdisciplinary approach to the implementation of projects to create a comfortable environment for human life in the digital economy" under a grant from the President of the Russian Federation.
Text: Tatiana Petrova
Photo: 1, 5 – Sergey Klishis;
2 – courtesy of forum's organisers;
3 – Yuri Zgoda;
4 – Timur Ablyazov