October 25, Belarusian National Technical University started the official opening and plenary meeting of the XII Forum of Universities of Engineering and Technology of the Union State.
The organizer is the Union State with the support of the Ministry of Education of Belarus and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. Starting from this year, the Forum of Engineering and Technological Universities is included in the plan of permanent events of the Union State.

Among the participants are representatives of almost 40 foreign universities, young scientists and specialists, students, undergraduates and graduate students of engineering and technological universities of the Union State. The guest list also includes government bodies, scientific organizations, high-tech industrial enterprises of Belarus, Russia and other countries of the world.

The event was also attended by State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly Commission on Power and Transport Grigory Rapota, and Minister of Education of Belarus Andrei Ivanets.

It is noted that high-quality engineering education is the foundation of economic development and national security of the country. Highly qualified engineering personnel are one of the main resources of the technological sovereignty of the state and determine the prospects for its development.

Training of engineering personnel in the Republic of Belarus is carried out by a number of leading universities, including BNTU, BSUIR, BSTU, BrSTU, PSU, BRU, GSTU, BSTU in more than 185 specialties.

The annual intake of applicants is about 17 thousand people. The training of specialists is carried out on the basis of requests from personnel contracting organizations, with which HEIs maintain close ties. This allows you to quickly respond to the introduction of new production processes in organizations and formulate hiring plans taking into account the real need for specific specialists.

Modern educational technologies are widely used in the educational process: project-based learning, student startup projects, modular training, specialized courses. In order to strengthen practice-oriented training of specialists, a significant part of laboratory and practical classes, coursework and diploma practices take place in more than 500 branches of departments of large industrial enterprises - MAZ, BelAZ, MTZ, MZKT, MMZ, Integral, Atlant, BMZ, Amkodor.

An important role in the link: university - science - real sector is played by industrial laboratories, which implement a number of scientific projects to solve production problems. The results obtained in industry laboratories are actively introduced into the educational process.

The key point was voiced to the participants of the plenary session of the Forum: “today, the training of engineering personnel is continuous education from school through university and to enterprise. In this regard, a set of measures is being implemented”.

Thus, a new direction in training has been opened - specialized engineering classes. In 2023, 235 such classes were opened throughout the republic, in which more than 2.5 thousand students receive education.

The activities of the National Children's Technology Park are developing effectively. Among the areas in demand among motivated young people are aerospace technology, architecture and design, biotechnology, virtual and augmented reality, and green chemistry. An important fact is that graduates have the opportunity to enter engineering specialties without entrance examinations. Medalists and target students also have ways for admission to engineering specialties without entrance examinations and without contest.

As for the development of international cooperation, in this regard, active work is being carried out to integrate the educational, scientific and technological space of the Union State. The leading universities of the republic make a significant contribution to this process: BNTU, BRU, BSU, BSUIR etc. In the last academic year alone, more than 70 joint research projects were carried out with institutions and organizations of the Russian Federation.

“The interaction between the universities of our countries is aimed at training personnel for high-tech and new sectors of the economy of Belarus and the Russian Federation by combining potential in the field of fundamental and applied research. Today, there is a regular exchange of student groups, scientific and teaching personnel. I am confident that fruitful work and making significant decisions will contribute to the development of engineering and technical education and science for the benefit of our countries,” concluded the head of the Belarusian department.

During the day, the work of the Forum will continue within thematic sections with seminars and a round table.