Mitsubishi Electric does a lot in the field of education, for example, by hosting conferences regularly in cities all over Russia. Can you tell us more about these events and why are they being organized?
Mitsubishi Electric in Russia hosts a lot of workshops and conferences for its partners. We use these events to tell about our new products and technological solutions. In addition to workshops, which take place in different cities, there are also regular training sessions for service engineers, which we run in special educational spaces in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Our partners learn to work with diagnostics software and accustom themselves to the specifics of the installation process. They can also come to our educational spaces with their clients to show them how the equipment looks and operates in real life. We see it as our priority to make our events accessible: to participate in them, you just need to send your application to the email address on the company’s official website. Everyone is welcome to attend, students included.
What are Mitsubishi Electric’s educational collaborations in Russia?
Mitsubishi Electric sees a great potential for developing its business in the Russian market. That doesn’t only involve sales of heating, ventilation and conditioning systems, but also our other products in Russia such as hand dryers, household refrigerators, industrial automation systems, solid-state power devices, display devices, and high-voltage power-generation facilities. Promoting such complex equipment is possible only when we have high-skilled specialists, not only in our company, but also among our partners, clients and future employees. That’s why we do our best building partnership with universities; For example, recently we’ve signed a cooperation agreement with the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
We’ve also helped one of our partners to create a research center for studying small refrigeration units based on Mitsubishi Electric’s heat pump Zubadan in the Baltic Fishing Fleet State Academy in Kaliningrad. The equipment we provided is now used both for teaching and research purposes.
Thanks to contribution of Mitsubishi Electric, St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University, Nizhnekamsk Institute for Chemical Technology, Ivanovo Power Engineering Institute, St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation and other higher education institutions now have training spaces allowing students practice using our innovative industrial automation equipment, which includes process controllers, electric drives, and operator panels, to name but a few.
Mitsubishi Electric contributes to the preparation of the new generation of engineering elite, first-class specialists ready to work with smart systems. It will be these professionals that will shape the future development of Russia.
Why did you decide to cooperate with ITMO University? How are you plan to build on this cooperation?
Both sides are very interested in mutual cooperation; I’d go as far as to say that this was a logical step. ITMO University prepares specialists in the field of conditioning and cooling systems; Mitsubishi Electric is a global leader in this field. This was our joint decision, and there’s no way that we wouldn’t have supported this.
One of the company’s main goals when working with students is to cultivate their commitment to quality, explain its practical and economic aspects and develop their skills of working with cutting-edge technologies. Thus far, Mitsubishi Electric Russia and ITMO have reached an arrangement to host a series of workshops on life support systems for Master’s students of the Faculty of Cryogenic Engineering in the 2018-2019 academic year.
As this will be the first collaboration experience for Mitsubishi Electric in St. Petersburg, it is very important for us to get feedback from the university at the end of this course, which we are planning to use to develop our cooperation. Personally, I’m convinced that this is the first step towards a stable, long-term partnership.
The apparent shortcomings in communication between universities and business are observed and lamented by general public. Indeed, often graduates come to a company lacking crucial skills they need they need in their professional sphere. What do you see as the solution for this problem?
The situation you’ve pointed at is very common unfortunately. But if we’re talking about ITMO University, I believe that the administration of ITMO University and, in particular, the staff of the School of Biotechnology and Cryogenic Systems are on the right track to solving this problem. Partnership with world-class manufacturers will not only help the students to form a comprehensive understanding of modern technological solutions, but also will develop an entrepreneurial culture vital for successful employment after graduation.
Is it possible for a student of a specialized university to join Mitsubishi Electric? How can they perform that?
Of course, it is possible for the students and they should try. Today the company is actively developing in Russia, and we’re searching for qualified and talented specialists. To join us, simply apply for the job position you like on our website. Apart from the proper specialization, our ideal candidate should be eager to develop and grow professionally; what is also important is a perfect level of English language: we’re an international company, after all.
Tell us more about the educational program you’ve developed with ITMO. What has influenced the choice of topics the project will cover?
In case of the fact that our audience constitutes both students and aspiring specialists who are planning to develop in the career in the field, we want to introduce them to the state-of-the-art technologies developed and implemented by Mitsubishi Electric. We developed the course program in such a way that after its successful completion, the students would be able to form their own understanding how to solve problems in heating, conditioning and cooling systems on any facility they’ll will be working with. One of the main topics we’ll be focusing at are technological solutions for data storage and processing centers; this is especially important in the framework of the new legislation on data storage and development of information technologies.
How long has Mitsubishi Electric been developing energy conservation and renewable energy technologies? Is there any potential in developing these technologies in Russia?
The trend of using energy conservation and renewable energy technologies in manufacturing gains more and more ground each year. Companies have started to think about making their production processes more eco-friendly, and pay special attention to operating costs in addition to the capital ones.
Mitsubishi Electric was among the first companies to start developing and implementing heat pumps functioning on the principles of air-to-air and air-to-water, and has succeeded in this field. Our heat pumps are well-known all around the world, but I am especially pleased to report that they are in high demand in Russia’s north-western market. We offer a large choice of heat pumps having a wide range of applications: from heating of a small country house to organizing a complex heating system at a large production plant. Having an experience of using of an air-source heat pump, I can say that this is the technology of the future, as its power consumption is significantly lower than traditional heating solutions such as electric boilers or diesel fuel. One exception is mains gas, but you have to take into account that its delivery can be extremely costly and sometimes even impossible.
What makes the ‘Development Trends of Life Support Systems’ program unique? Who shouldn’t miss it?
When I was a student at ITMO University, one lecturer used to say to us, ‘information is the most valuable resource: those who have it always win.’ In this case, the information will be provided by the world’s leading manufacturer of the equipment which the students will have to deal with in their future careers. This isn’t marketing or advertising, these are technological solutions that are used by the top companies in Russia and CIS countries.
Mitsubishi Electric is committed to bringing its partners up-to-date with the latest developments in the field. Those of our staff who will teach students as part of the project are tasked with providing them with comprehensive yet accessible knowledge which will help them in their later work. We want next generation of specialists to understand where the market is heading to, which solutions are the most energy-efficient, and what are the possible alternatives.
Mitsubishi Electric’s extensive portfolio includes objects with unique technologies that have been implemented only in Russia. This was brought about thanks to Russian high-skilled engineers in the field of ventilation, conditioning and cooling systems. We offer this information to students, but it’s up to them to attend the course or not. Personally, I believe that every student should aspire to be the best in their chosen profession, and this is what I wish to everyone.
