Like other school leavers Natalia Gorokhova had to choose a university course from a plethora of automation courses in the field of robotics offered by St. Petersburg universities. As Ms. Gorokhova noted, she decided to study at ITMO University’s Control Systems and Industrial Robotics Faculty because she had heard about studying at the facultyfrom current students. She is sure that this course has and will givean opportunity to join promising IT fields that have various applications rather than just “routine coding.”
Natalia Gorokhova was “awarded” with this short-term course for her excellent results in English language. The University covered all costs – studies, accommodation and tickets. Usually ITMO’s technical students pass an English language mock-test. Those who gain more points than others are offered to pass Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) exam for free. Natalia Gorokhova had already passed this that is why she was offered to upgrade both her English language and professional skills by taking part in an international educational program. Most students start participating in such international projects when they have already completed their second or third year. Natalia was only a freshmanbut her test results made it possible for her to accept this program as an exception to the rules. International Educational Programs Department’s experts selected several appropriate short-term programs related to fields connected with Natalia’s major. She decided to choose a two-week Digital Signal Processing Summer Schoolto participate in during her summer holidays.
Natalia Gorokhova shared that she was the only first-year student among some 25 participants of the School. Every weekday, students attended lectures on signal processing systems, filter design software and so forth. The training was centered around applied engineering issues. Natalia Gorokhova commented that: “I cannot asses the European educational system because I spent only two weeks there. However I found the course very interesting and useful. Thanks to our professor, all the information was very clear. Students actively discussed questions related to the lecture and asked for additional information they needed.The information gained during lectures can be applied to electronic, control and radio-frequency engineering.”
The description of the Summer School offers its’ newcomers a chanceto learn new things and at the same time become a part of an international atmosphere. “That’s what we had! I experienced international networking in the full sense of the word. I met students from European countries, Latin America and Vietnam.” The intensive program made students keep to a particular schedule and become better at time management as well.
“It is necessary to try study abroad! This Summer School inspired me to plan my future studies. I am going to apply to a double degree ora semester exchange program in the future,” said Natalia Gorokhova.
Now she is looking for an interesting engineering project to join. Students and engineers at Control Systems and Industrial Robotics Faculty work on new types of control and robotic systems for various purposes, for example, robot movements. The Faculty also takes part in competitions like robotic battles and robot football cups. Natalia plans to take part in these activities and after completing her Bachelor’s degree she plans to continue studying as a Master’s student.