First Graduation: Russian students of MAI-SJTU Program Have Defended Their Diploma Thesis

On July 17-18, the first thesis defense of Russian students of the international graduate program of Moscow Aviation Institute and Shanghai Jiao Tong University took place in two areas: "Aircraft Engineering" and "Aircraft Engines".

For the first time in MAI, thesis defence of Russian students was completely in English. On July 17, from the Department 101 “Design and Certification of Aviation Equipment” 10 students presented the thesis in “Product Lifecycle Management Technologies in Designing Modern Aircraft”, and on July 18, 9 students in “Design of Aircraft Structures from Polymer Composite Materials”.

“It was a very tense and exciting day for the students, but they coped with the tasks set before them, all defended “excellent” and “well,” - said Denis Shavelkin, Deputy Head of the Department 101. 

On July 18, 10 students from the Departments 203 "Engines Design", 204 "Aerospace Heat Engineering" and 205 "Technology of Production of Aircraft Engines"  presented their thesis by the following three training programs:

• "Thermal Processes in Gas Turbine Engines",
• "Perspective Production Technologies of Gas Turbine Engines",
• "The Design of Gas Turbine Engines."

The thesis defense of MAI-SJTU students were attended by representatives of Russian industry leaders: Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, represented by the Chief Designer of CR929 Maxim Litvinov, United Aircraft Corporation in the person of Aslambek Gakayev, Deputy Director for Personnel Training, as well as representatives of S7 Technics, PAO Severstal, JSC AeroComposite, Prepreg-Advanced Composite Materials and United Engine Corporation. 

Recall that in 2017, Moscow Aviation Institute, together with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, launched Master’s degree corporate programs in English in order to create a personnel reserve for the Russian-Chinese project of a wide-body long-range aircraft  (CR2939). Training lasts 2.5 years. The first year and last six months of study takes place in Shanghai, the second year - at MAI. Upon completion of training, the student receives two diplomas: a diploma of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a diploma of Moscow Aviation Institute.

“The great advantage of our joint magistracy is a complete immersion in the work on the CR929 project from the first days of training,” - said Eugene Guriev, a graduate student of MAI-SJTU program. -  “And now the students are involved in negotiations with the Chinese side in the framework of the JET (Joint Engineering Team)."

Co-education with Chinese students gives the opportunity to experience eastern culture, learn how to build communication. “Over the two years of joint training, we have acquired close friendly ties with the guys from China: we participated in joint conferences, gathered in coworkings, watched films with subtitles. During the preparation for the thesis defense, we held team-buildings, where we helped each other, consulted, and provided moral support,”- said Ksenia Korovina, a magistracy student. - “I believe that the program has expanded our horizons and opened up new ones.”

In September, the students will fly to China to continue their studies on the program. And in the spring of 2020 they will have another test - Russian students will have diploma defence in China. After graduation, some students plan to continue their study as a postgraduates students, and all of them will continue to work in their target corporations.