Engineering holidays for pupils in the Angara region and Buryatia were organised by INRTU
According to Svetlana Shvedina, Deputy Head of Marketing of Educational Services and Implementation of Educational Programmes, the university is implementing the project for the fifth time. In the new season, the project is divided into 10 specialised schools in the technical and humanities sectors. Master classes, lectures, practical lessons and cases were organised for middle and high school students.
A distinctive feature of the Engineering Vacation is the opportunity to «try on several occupations», as well as to change the profile if desired. As statistics show, at least 1/3 of the project participants enrol in INRTU.
«The engineering holidays allow children to understand that a competitive specialist must have different skills. We help them make an aware professional choice fr om the eighth grade up," stressed Svetlana Shvedina.
The future applicants experienced themselves in the fields of energy and metallurgy, architecture and mechanical engineering. They talked to biotechnologists, innovators and journalists and learned about the basics of economics and law. The children were shown how «smart» protection and automation devices work in the energy sector, and were told how to design power lines and substations, program machines and robots, and carry out equipment commissioning.
For the first time, the programme of the holiday included the International School, which was supervised by the BRICS Baikal Institute with the support of the Evrika Language School. Demo students played BUSINESS SECRETS and Translation Metaphor quests, visited an English-speaking singing lesson, took rapid tests and linguistic consultations. The teachers presented ways to use phrasal verbs and shared the secrets of Russian and foreign brand recognition.
Arina Pavlovskaya, an 8th grade pupil from Irkutsk, is a participant in the International School:
«The most memorable thing was the immersion in a multicultural environment. I was used to the teacher explaining the material in English and Russian. At the BRICS Baikal Institute it is common to communicate only in a foreign language. It was interesting for me to be in the class together with the foreign students.»
Schoolgirls from Slyudyanka Diana Podrez and Ekaterina Solonskaya spent their second spring break at INRTU. According to them, three days were enough to feel like a real student. The master classes in drawing, laboratory component making and glass cutting attracted Ekaterina’s attention.
Thanks to the polytechnic project, Diana Podrez decided on her career choice:
«I first became interested in architecture, and then I took classes in economics and law. In the end, I decided to tie my future work to law enforcement.»
The Irkutsk Technical University has an amazing atmosphere. It is the only university I know wh ere you can come for a few days and find yourself in the role of a student. I am grateful to the staff at the polytechnic who came up with this project.»
In addition, on 31 March, students were introduced to the case championships organised by UC RUSAL, a partner of the polytechnic. School students received prizes and souvenirs from the company and the university.
