The Bridge Between Science and Industry: “Gazprom” and Peter the Great Saint-Peterburg Polytechnic University
Nowadays government policy is aimed at the cooperation of universities and institutes with real economy sector enterprises. Therefore many technical universities face a task to bridge the gap between these two spheres and to find new areas of common interest. But Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University, one of the leading Russian technical universities, had bridged the gap long time ago. Although the university works in collaboration with many Russian and foreign enterprises, “Gazprom” remains the principal strategic partner in the energy industry.
St. Petersburg Polytechnic University cooperates with a number of “Gazprom” affiliated companies for many years. Signed agreements imply joint scientific researches and theoretical developments, the improvement of specialist training and the qualification of academic, engineering and technical personnel.
SPbPU is also a platform for test runs and the analysis of welded connections of OJSC “Gazprom” and its affiliated companies’ major pipelines. It is possible because the Polytechnic University is one of few organizations that develop new technologies of turnkey welding.
The Pin Effect
The collaboration of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University with “Gazprom” affiliated companies is a good example of the strategy of the adoption of Russian scientific developments into domestic production facilities. It also displays the focus of the Russian industrial sector on import substitution and even on forestalling new foreign technologies production.
The development and production of rotary support pins for a crane – machine parts, that are necessary for “Gazprom” sleet-proof stationary platform “Prirazlomnaya” – became one of the most important projects carried on by engineers of CompMechLab® at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Own production of this machine part enables uninterrupted work of the platform, which, by the way, contributes majorly to the country’s budget.
“In the shortest time possible we received information necessary to produce analogues of the machine parts. In particular, our engineers determined the geometrical parameters of the parts necessary for developing detailed design documents. They also obtained the data on chemical composition and physicomechanical properties of the material of the parts, thus allowing to choose analogous material produced by the domestic industrial enterprises and to define its heat treatment mode. Moreover, specialists chose a sequence of technological operations and made recommendations for reducing production costs. Finally, engineers executed mechanical tests of the produced parts that proved their performance characteristics”, – specified the Vice Rector for Advanced Projects, the head of the Engineering Center of SPbSPU “Center of Computer-Aided Engineering, A.I. Borovkov.
The Principal Aspect of Partnership is Specialist Training
“Gazprom” is interested not only in the innovative developments and products of the university but in the latest specialist training too. About 100 sponsored students study on technical faculties in SPbPU Institute of Energy and Transport Systems.
“Gazprom” pays great attention to the on-the-job training. According to students, such trainings enable young people to choose workplaces after graduation more deliberately. Many SPbPU students after the on-the-job training choose to work exactly in the gas industry.
In May 2015 an agreement on the establishment of the Department of Gas Turbine Units for Gas Pumping Stations at SPbPU Institute of Energy and Transport Systems on the basis of LLC “Gazprom Transgaz St. Petersburg” LLC was singed.
