Eight African students completed INRTU-RAFU Summer School
Certificates of completion of the Summer School of Siberian School of Geosciences (SSG) of IRNITU were awarded to eight students from African countries. The trainees mastered open technologies of UAV remote sensing of the earth and took part in field work at the Chernorud base nearby Olkhon island. The educational intensive was held from July 29 to August 18 with the support of the consortium “Russian-African Network University” (RAFU).
It should be noted that INRTU has been a partner of the RAFU consortium since 2022. In addition to the Irkutsk Technical University, 18 other universities of the country have received funding for the organization of schools on various topics. The project was supervised by the Siberian School of Geosciences (SSG) and the INRTU International Exchange Office.
Stepan Bykov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs of INRTU, congratulated the participants from Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Egypt and Zimbabwe on the completion of the course. He thanked the students for their curiosity and responsible attitude to study/
“The knowledge gained at the Siberian School of Geosciences, can be safely applied in practice, in scientific work. We will be glad if you have the desire and strength to study at INRTU. Perhaps, someone will be inspired by the Summer School to do serious research in international teams”, - Stepan Bykov addressed the students.
According to Alexander Parshin, the founder and scientific director of the Siberian School of Geosciences, the foreign students went through a series of lectures and practices. They learned how to assemble UAVs and install cameras, make flight missions, control the movement of the device, and process data.
“Now you can perform visible or multispectral aerial photography on your own, using drones assembled from improvised materials. So that you can always remember the theory, we will provide you with all the training materials. Those who wish to study further are welcome to the Siberian School of Geosciences,” said Alexander Parshin.
Darya Org, Deputy Head of SSG Educational Technologies Department, added that the cultural program of the Summer School was also rich. The students visited the Mineralogical Museum named after A.V. Sidorov. A.V. Sidorov Mineralogical Museum, Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore named after N.N. Muravyov. N.N. Muravyov-Amursky, Baikal Museum of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, architectural and ethnographic museum “Taltsy”. In their free time international students played volleyball, lapta, and soccer.
One of certificate’s holder was Maliki Dieudonné Marcel from Cameroon. Previously, the young man studied Russian at the sub-faculty of Tomsk State University and received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from TUSUR (radio designer and specialist in applied mathematics). As a postgraduate student, Maliki Dieudonné Marcel will apply the knowledge acquired at the polytechnic when writing his PhD thesis.
“At Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics, I design and program drones for agriculture. That's why I was glad to become a participant of the Summer School from the Siberian School of Geosciences of INRTU. We learned how to solder, assemble copters, process and analyze images. Thanks to the teachers for the knowledge and field work”, - Maliki Dieudonné Marcel shared his impressions.
NOTE:
The Russian-African Network University (RAFU) consortium is a unified platform for the development of academic cooperation between Russian and African universities. This consortium was created to form new sustainable ties between universities and organizations of Russia and African countries, to expand the directions of personnel training in the interests of sustainable development of African countries. The RAFU participants are Russian universities, research institutes and organizations, as well as various African universities.
