Mikhail Pogosyan, Rector of MAI: "Engineers with creative mindset are in demand"

How to educate experts that are to ensure the technological sovereignty of the country? What kind of professions will be in the top 5 in the nearest future? And why won't education be the same as it used to be? "RG" discusses the abovementioned topics this with Mikhail Pogosyan, the Rector of Moscow Aviation Institute, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

– Mikhail Aslanovich, MAI is one of the six universities participating in the pilot project for the transition to a new system of higher education. What does this mean to the university?

Mikhail Pogosyan: First of all, new opportunities. One of the priority tasks of MAI is to educate the experts that will carry out the technological breakthrough. Along with the basic knowledge, it is necessary to give them practical skills, skills of using modern digital technologies for solving complex engineering problems, so that our graduates can demonstrate high level of professionalism from the very beginning of work in the industry. Participation in the pilot project allows to adapt educational programs to new requirements flexibly.

– New standards and programs must be approved by June 30. What should we prepare for?

Mikhail Pogosyan: During 1-2 courses, along with the transformation of the engineering core, we switch to the in-depth development of digital technologies, reinforcing the acquired competencies with the implementation of specific projects.

Further, during their senior courses, students gradually determine their specialization, choosing the design object, the direction of work in a design bureau, at a factory or in a technology startup and the specific professional role (designer, technologist, etc.). This is supported by the implementation of engineering projects integrating the content of different disciplines. The topics of the projects are formed together with our industrial partners and are aimed at involving students in the implementation of promising aviation and space programs and advanced research.

To increase the competitiveness of MAI graduates in senior courses, we provide them access to disciplines on promising technologies, such as materials with changeable properties, built-in systems for monitoring the state of structures made of composite materials, methods of artificial intelligence and supercomputer modeling, etc.

Modules that form the competencies of an integrated engineer in terms of business processes, project management and humanitarian thinking deserve special attention. This makes it possible to integrate design, digital, economic and humanitarian disciplines into a comprehensive educational environment, including the development of personal and communication skills of the engineer of the future.

– At the basic level, the duration of the education according to the new system lasts from four to six years. The decision is up to the universities. How long will MAI students study?

Mikhail Pogosyan: We launch the pilot project with engineering training programs in key areas of the aerospace industry: aircraft and helicopter construction, rocket and space complexes, aviation and rocket engines, aircraft control and integrated systems. They were implemented at the specialist and undergraduate levels. Now, in these areas, the education in basic higher education programs for Russian students will last 5.5 years.

Next year, we will transfer the remaining areas to basic higher education programs, having determined the timing for the implementation of educational programs based on the results of a joint analysis with employers.

– The enrollment campaign has begun. You have almost 2,700 budget places available. How many of them are in the "pilot"? Advise the applicants.

Mikhail Pogosyan: Enrollment to educational programs in aviation and rocket and space technology consists of about 40 percent of budget places available. And in total, we provide education in nine mega-directions. For the rest of the programs, we have, as before, bachelor's and specialty programs, the format and content of which will also be updated in accordance with our approaches.

– MAI has additional scholarships, including for first-year students. Tell us more about them.

Mikhail Pogosyan: There are many different scholarships. For students who come to us with high USE scores, we set additional payments up to 20 thousand rubles. Further, depending on their academic achievements, scientific and social activity, students receive various scholarships. For some, payments might reach up to 30 thousand rubles. However, scholarships are not the only source of income for students. Our students already from 2-3 courses start working either at the enterprises or in the laboratories of the university. Project work is an integral part of basic education at MAI.

– Technologies are changing rapidly. And does they affect the way of thinking? Will education be the same as before?

Mikhail Pogosyan: Yes, technology really changes our thinking and affects education. Technologies such as mathematical modeling, artificial intelligence and big data analysis are of great importance for various industries, including aviation. Given the speed of change, educational programs should be continuously updated. It is also necessary to form, together with the industry, a constantly updating personnel forecast in the medium and long term.

– It's not the first time we've met. I remember you once said that supercomputer modeling of complex technical systems would become one of the most popular areas. Your vision turned out to become true. And what do your forecast today? Neural networks?

Mikhail Pogosyan: Neural networks are already applied in such industries as aircraft construction, shipbuilding, medicine, finance and others. The main applications of neural networks are process optimization, decision-making assistance, and big data processing and analysis. In the future, the application of neural networks in aviation may become even broader. For example, they can be used to improve flight safety by predicting possible dangerous situations or to optimize routes by analyzing data on weather, fuel, passengers and other factors.

At MAI, we are already implementing similar projects not only in aviation, but also in other areas. For example, we solved tasks for the Ministry of Emergency Situations on flood forecasting using neural networks.

The implementation of such projects requires upgraded computing power. In accordance with the MAI strategy, within the framework of the Priority 2030 program, we envisage increasing the processor capacities of our supercomputer to more than 500 TFlops. This allows to increase the volume of work performed on computational research in the field of mathematical modeling, virtual testing and certification of aircraft, calculations of structural strength and aerodynamics.

And our students are involved in these tasks during the learning process, because experts in modern digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality are already in demand. And this need will grow exponentially in the coming years.

– And which professions will be included in the top 5 in the future?

Mikhail Pogosyan: The need for engineers is constantly growing, as they play an important role in the development of new technologies and innovative solutions, which, among other things, form new markets and stimulate the development of society. Moreover, engineers who not only possess mathematical apparatus, but also have creative thinking for solving complex problems will be in demand.

The market of unmanned aerial vehicles will develop very quickly. Current forecasts suggest that a large number of UAV operators are needed. But we also need professionals who will design services via drones. We need people who will design complex digital systems, not just the vehicle.

We made personnel forecast together with the UAC and saw that if we are talking about the introduction of commercial aircraft into operation, then in 5-7 years there will be urgent need for those who would in fact operate them. But, I emphasize, not only technical people, but also those who are able to use the huge array of data that we have today. For example, the onboard equipment of the SSJ100 memorizes more than 5 thousand parameters. It is necessary to be able to process this information in order to increase the efficiency of operation. Therefore, there will be a great need for experts in predictive analytics and big data processing who can predict the behavior of an aircraft.

I believe that in all industries in the next 5 years, artificial intelligence and machine learning experts, business analysts, information security analysts, sustainable development specialists who are engaged in the development of measures aimed at minimizing the impact of human activity on the environment will be in demand.

– Many working groups on unmanned systems have been created in MAI. What are the prospects for the development of the air mobility technologies?

Mikhail Pogosyan: In the 30s of the last century, the aircraft industry was created. Now the unmanned aircraft systems industry is following a similar path.

MAI has created several structures that conduct projects in the area of unmanned systems for various purposes. We have opened a center for certification and testing of unmanned systems at the MAI airfield, provided modern equipment and received a certificate of accreditation of the Federal Air Transport Agency as a UAV Certification Center.

We develop design and production facilities, implement a large number of additional professional education programs to educate professionals in UAV design, testing and certification.

Over the past 10-15 years, MAI has developed more than a hundred types of vehicles of different load capacities – from 20-30 kg to 300-400 kg. But we do not limit our interests only to such devices. We are interested, for example, in air taxi projects. Today we need to do some work in terms of the level of technological development. But in the future, it will be a very popular topic.

– Employer-sponsored education of students has always been one of the areas of your control. Does it remain the same today?

Mikhail Pogosyan: This is a very important direction for us. Among our customers there are such enterprises as Rostec, Roscosmos, KTRV, the Ministry of Defense and others. We have more than 3 thousand of such students. It gives our students great confidence in their future careers. They come to production already fully adapted already.

There are also many students who get enrolled together with others, but in the process of learning determine their future trajectory. In such cases, students sign contracts with corresponding aerospace enterprises.

We are now actively developing employer-sponsored educational programs with partner universities in the interests of regional enterprises: Smolensk Aviation Plant, Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, a branch of PJSC "UAC" - Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation plant named after Yury Gagarin and JSC "Information Satellite Systems named after Academician M.F. Reshetnev". Already from the second year, students are provided with practical training at the enterprise and immersion in real production tasks. And after graduation, they, having received a MAI diploma, stay and work at their enterprise.

– You often emphasize that competitiveness will be determined primarily by talents, leaders of change. How to find them? Are they among those who speak loudly and correctly? Or should we look for them among those who thinks well?

Mikhail Pogosyan: This is a very difficult question. One might recognize a leader not by the grades or when he is winning contests. It is important that a person shows himself from different sides. He should be able to find solutions in different situations, with varying degrees of complexity of tasks, unite people around him, see the project as a whole, and not as a separate narrow problem, know how to manage the life cycle of products... It is necessary to educate and train such experts through consistent complication of the tasks to be solved, through work in interdisciplinary teams that are engaged in real projects using modern technologies.

We are going to ensure that the diploma project will become comprehensive and will be carried out with the participation of students studying in different directions. In such teams, you can immediately see how people manifest themselves.

– Neural networks, according to forecasts, will soon replace up to 40 percent of personnel. Is that good? Is it bad?

Mikhail Pogosyan: It is a fairly discussed issue today, and I believe that the regulation of the application of artificial intelligence is really an acute and urgent problem. But at the same time, there are quite a large number of routine tasks where a computer is much more efficient than a human.

As for creative tasks, I think that the possibilities for implementing creative solutions of human thinking are very wide. Therefore, in engineering, I would see the goal in finding a balance in the interaction of man and machine. We must rely on the capabilities of neural networks and modern modeling methods, but at the same time we must analyze and interpret the results of their work, find fundamentally new approaches and solutions.

– What space projects is MAI implementing today?

Mikhail Pogosyan: Now we actively cooperate with Roscosmos over a program for the development of the industry, the organization of mass production of small spacecraft, and the reduction of their design cycles. This is one of the important tasks dictated by time. The task is to create a powerful space grouping, it is necessary to develop digital production for this purpose. We have already accumulated similar experience in aviation, and we are working on how to transfer it to projects in space industry.

– MAI is a member of the consortium of the world-class "Supersonic" scientific center. What projects do you implement? And what are the prospects, given the current situation, for a second-generation supersonic aircraft?

Mikhail Pogosyan: Now supersonic aviation is experiencing an increase in interest towards it. Ensuring the economic efficiency of a supersonic aircraft and the improvement of its environmental impact is a serious challenge. We are involved in various areas of research that are being conducted at TsAGI. These are issues of aerodynamics, the design of bionic structures, the development of requirements for the power plant, methods for reducing the level of sound shock and noise, the development of control systems and much more. A large number of our senior students participate in Supersonic.

– You are not only the rector of an aviation university. You are an aircraft designer, you have extensive experience as a production organizer. I just can't help but ask: what projects in aircraft construction would you mention now?

Mikhail Pogosyan: Of course, one of the most important tasks is the launch of domestic SSJ-NEW and MS-21 aircraft on the market, as well as the implementation of a long-haul wide-body aircraft program. The prospective PD-14 engine has already passed the most difficult certification tests. The problem of import substitution of composite materials in the MS-21 has been successfully solved.

We talked about the importance of creating of unmanned aerial vehicle industry. For Russian manufacturers, competition in the world market will be very harsh.

– I looked through the latest news on the university's website. MAI has come up with a bioelectric prosthetic hand that allows to use a smartphone, an application for remote diagnosis of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases... That is, not only aviation, not only rockets and engines?