Round table with the President of Tatarstan - Rustam Minnikhanov

Opening ceremony

Opening of the Symposium

On September 25-27, 2013, the 42th IGIP (International Society for Engineering Education) international symposium "Global challenges in engineering education" was held at KNRTU. This interdisciplinary conference was aimed to focus on the exchange of relevant trends and research results as well as presentation of practical experiences in engineering pedagogy and education.

More than 500 participants from all over the world, including the President of the Republic of Tatarstan – Rustam Minnikhanov and the heads of major international organizations in the field of engineering education and e-learning, representatives of the government of the Republic of Tatarstan, heads of industrial enterprises and non-government organizations of Russia and Tatarstan came to Kazan to take part in the sessions, seminars and round tables of symposium.

According to participants, guests and mass media feedback, the event caused a great resonance in the scientific and educational environment.

The symposium gathered over 500 participants from 46 countries.

This event was organized by International Society for Engineering Education (IGIP), Technical Institute of Carinthia CTI (Austria), National Training Foundation and KNRTU.

The symposium was represented by the members of International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES), Russian Monitoring Center IGIP, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC), European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), International Association of Online Engineering (IOAE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Education Society (IEEE-EdSoc), European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN), The Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, The Russian Rector’s Union, Association for Engineering Education of Russia, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Education, The Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan and a number of other governmental and non-government organizations of Russia and Republic of Tatarstan.

The President of the Republic of Tatarstan – Rustam Minnikhanov expressed his opinion on the problems of engineering education during the round table on September 25, 2013. According to the President, we need to consolidate all capabilities of engineering education, rely on the real sector of economy and cooperate with foreign partners. "Your experience is important for us, therefore Kazan will be the site for wide discussion of engineering education problems" - the President said.

The President of IGIP Michael Auer outlined importance of development of engineering in the present-day conditions: "…Engineering, education and pedagogy are thousands of years old. In fact, education is as old as the human race itself. Our species is characterized by its ability to learn and learning is key in our evolutionary process. Furthermore we can observe a terrific acceleration of the life cycles of technical (or engineering) products…" - Michael Auer said in his wishes to IGIP participants.

In framework of the symposium there were plenary sessions, workshops, round-tables discussions, including the round-table with participation of the President of Republic of Tatarstan – Rustam Minnikhanov, which were held in KNRTU and "Korston" conference hall.

The symposium program included over 500 presentations.

Rector of Kazan National Research Technological University – German Dyakonov outlined in his presentation the modern challenges in engineering education including social level challenges (engineering education deserves higher popularity); secondary school level challenges (school students prefer learning only several standard disciplines they need may need for further university enrollment; natural sciences are expensive for teaching); university level challenges (university professors do not receive adequate compensation and gratitude from society; research results of many universities are noncompetitive at the world level; universities need better integration with industry). Professor German Dyakonov proposed solutions of these challenges, such as implementation of mandatory state exams in chemistry, physics, foreign language and informatics in addition to standard mathematics and Russian exams; engineering education promotion activities starting at the elementary school level; advancement of academic programs; development of specialized programs with industry; intensified annual practical training; network education approach; assignment of supervisors with a research degree for small groups of students; integration into global research and education.