A delegation from South Ural State University, headed by Rector Alexander Wagner, took part in the second day of the From Import Substitution to Technological Sovereignty Russian forum.
The Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Ural Federal District Vladimir Yakushev, the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Alexey Texler, and many representatives of industry, business and science participated in the second day of the forum.
The forum was opened by Vladimir Yakushev, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Ural Federal District, who addressed the participants with a welcoming speech and noted the importance of the forum and the great potential of the Ural region and the Ural scientific and industrial communities in production development and technological breakthroughs.
"We have the difficult task of acquiring technological sovereignty. And we must admit to ourselves honestly that we are still at the beginning of this path, and there is a huge, titanic work ahead of us to create coordinated interaction between education, science, and business. The Ural region is historically famous for its scientists and industrialists. Our enterprises and the scientific community contribute significantly to import substitution. Today at the exhibition we were convinced of this—there were a lot of interesting proposals from young, interested people, motivated to be heard and to change our life for the better."
The Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Alexey Texler spoke at the plenary session, at which the formation of technological sovereignty and scientific, technological, and industrial development was discussed:
"What is important today to really achieve sovereignty? First, we need to develop (and in some areas, form) our own scientific, personnel, and technological reserves in end-to-end technologies. Second, create a comfortable environment both for development and for launching manufacturing. And third, launch the production of high-tech products. Resources—human, organizational, financial—are not limitless, we understand that, so it is especially important to choose and set priorities, which will guide all spheres: business, science and production."
SUSU Rector Alexander Wagner emphasized the role that higher education, and SUSU research and development in particular, currently play in light of today's challenges.
"Today, universities are actively working on all components of domestic production. This includes the products themselves, which are manufactured at industrial facilities, and the design bureaus that develop new products, and the technological equipment needed to manufacture new products. And in all three areas, universities have their own developments and promising ideas. In particular, the ideas and developments of South Ural State University are becoming more and more relevant, and today business increasingly comes to universities for these developments."
The forum's working program included an exhibition of high-tech import-substituting products and products manufactured for the needs of the Special Military Operation. Advanced scientific and technological samples developed by the leading Russian research institutes, universities, and enterprises were presented. SUSU also presented its innovative projects at the exhibition.
The exhibition included a presentation of the Arctic bus—a unique vehicle developed by SUSU in cooperation with Bauman MSTU, and the Ural Automobile Plant in Miass. Ramil Zakirov, one of the developers of the Arctic bus and director of the SUSU Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, spoke about the relevance and uniqueness of this project.
"The functional significance of the Arctic bus is huge, for the Chelyabinsk Region in particular. First, it is a civilian vehicle that is in demand in the Far North. The bus can safely travel off-road. It has very powerful insulation. And even more important for the Far North is life support: in extreme situations, you can survive in the bus for 24 hours, everything is provided for this. If the bus suddenly falls through the ice while moving, it can float on the water for about one hour, during this time it will be possible to evacuate passengers. And the fact that young specialists of SUSU (scientists and designers) worked on the project is also very important," Ramil Zakirov commented.
During the second day of the forum a panel on industry support and a round table on the development of import-substituting products were held. Ramil Zakirov took part in the round table discussion, offering a talk on the "Features of the development of design documentation for industrial enterprises within the frameworks of import substitution".
The second day of the event also included workshops on Industry Support and Development of Import-Substituting Products, in which industrial enterprises exchanged experiences on working with grants and subsidies, on doing business and organizing cooperation with representatives of business and academia, and also among themselves.