OREANDA-NEWS. January 22, 2013. The Ministry of education and science of the Russian Federation has chosen the winners of an open public competition to select the organizations that would become eligible for receiving government aide in implementing end-to-end projects seeking to create high-tech production sites. The winners of the competition’s third round were 67 companies working in cooperation with 53 Russian higher-learning institutions and 3 state scientific organizations. The projects will be implemented in 48 Russian territories.

Among the winners – a company and a higher-learning institution from Rybinsk. NPO Saturn in collaboration with the Solovyev Rybinsk State Aviation Technical University are working on a project focused on creating a high-tech production of blades for few-stage high-pressure compressors used in gas-turbine power plants – an ODK competence center. The project duration is estimated as 3 years. The purpose of the competition is to engage the higher-learning institution in a rigorous research and development activity whose outcome will then be implemented by NPO Saturn. The purchasing of the required equipment for the library and creation of a production site are slated for 2013.

Vladimir Stogov, NPO Saturn chief engineer highlighted the importance of the new joint project and outlined its key success factors: “Mutual understanding between educational institutions and industrial companies is a necessity imposed by the reality. This form of cooperation yields a synergetic effect for our companies. The new project makes it evident that NPO Saturn is capable of creating world-class products. The highly-qualified personnel are the key factor of NPO Saturn’s successful operation and competitiveness. Working together with a RGATU team will allow Saturn to get to a higher level in terms of R&D which will entrain an increase in productivity. The youth, who are now undergoing training at the RGATU, will subsequently be fully integrated in this project having by then obtained the required knowledge and skills. The benefits are evident for both the Company and the higher-learning institution. No doubt that today we are faced with a deficit of technical degree graduates. Technical degree graduates are the creators of a certain product. We hope that in the foreseeable future the RGATU will adopt some new disciplines needed for this industry. Logically, the improved quality of education provided by the RGATU will enhance financial performance of NPO Saturn. There is a good symbiosis in this respect. Therefore our main mission is to ensure the students understand that once they enroll at the RGATU, they will obtain such education that will allow them to be successful, working for Saturn or other industrial companies. Today we have been able to establish an effective partnership model, and I know that we are destined to succeed”.

Valery Poletaev, president of the RGATU shared with us about the longstanding cooperation between the university and NPO Saturn drawing particular attention to the advantages of this cooperation and of the project as a whole: “Today’s project provides for sharing the R&D backlog accumulated through many years of joint work between the RGATU and NPO Saturn. A laboratory existing as an integral part of serial production will allow to examine, streamline and validate the production process, and once it is ready, to launch full-fledged serial production. Saturn is a competence center in the field of producing compressor blades and compressors as such. It’s worth mentioning however that a competence center is not only about the newest, cutting-edge equipment, it is first and foremost about the people, the competitions owners. That’s why in the frame of the RGATU infrastructure, it is envisaged to create a scientific school. The laboratory that we are going to set up at NPO Saturn will pave foundation for the future Ph.D. theses which will be in demand for the Company and the whole scientific community. Our mission is to train future engineers for the entire ODK group, and the electro-chemical industry as a whole. It is important that we establish such an infrastructure that will facilitate the implementation of the R&D work results in production. It is our goal to train the mechanical engineering students to the level that Saturn needs today. And there is no doubt that both today’s and the future RGATU students will be able to find a gratifying job.

Research and production association Saturn OJSC – an engine-building company specialized in design, manufacture and aftermarket support of gas-turbine engines for military and civil aviation, the Navy boats and power-generation and gas-pumping installations. NPO Saturn OJSC is part of the United engine corporation managing company OJSC.