Water and Life Forum Brings Together Students and Schoolchildren at INRTU
The 20th All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference “Water and Life” was held at co-working hub Tochka Prityazheniya (Focal Point) at INRTU on April 22. The forum featured presentations by schoolchildren and students. Participants discussed the possibility of building eco-factories, the automation of the Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station, and the specifics of the water life cycle in construction.
The annual conference is organized by the Department of Physics of INRTU and the INRTU Scientific union “Carbon” under the guidance of Professor Nikolai Konovalov. The event attracted future power engineers, builders, ecologists, as well as a student from the Irkutsk State University Lyceum.
“Water is our main chemical element, involved in all life processes and the formation of natural resources. We have been holding the ‘Water and Life’ conference for many years, and we see that student interest does not fade year after year. Active participation in such events benefits not only studies but also personal growth,”
Professor Nikolai Konovalov addressed the young researchers.
An expert commission consisting of professors Nikolai Konovalov, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Vladimir Pionkevich evaluated the participants’ presentations.
The best paper in the “Role of Water in Technological Processes” section was presented by first-year student Vasilina Monakhova from the School of Aircraft Construction, Mechanical Engineering and Transport.
“At INRTU, I am studying aircraft engineering. I was interested in which technological processes in this industry use water. While researching this issue, I prepared a systematic review for my conference presentation. For example, water is used for grinding and machining aircraft parts. It can also cool equipment from overheating and perform other important functions,”
Vasilina said.
Second place went to Vyacheslav Tyulenev, who investigated the efficiency of huff-and-puff technologies in domestic and foreign oil and gas companies. The top three was rounded out by future jeweler Veronika Kotyukova with a report on the technological aspects of recovering precious metals from the wastewater of jewelry workshops.
The best papers on water ecology and hydrology were presented by students Sofya Lykova, Yulia Kokoreva, Sofia Kryukova, and Nadezhda Kovalchuk. The section leader, Nadezhda Kovalchuk, outlined solutions for the disposal of formation water from oil fields.
A “Water Around Us” section was organized for schoolchildren. Ninth-grader Aleksandr Sidenov presented a report on “The Physics of the Capillary Effect of Water” and took first place.
“This is my first time participating in an All-Russian conference. I was interested in getting to know Irkutsk National Research Technical University. Speaking at the university is a responsible matter, and I was very nervous. However, I coped with all the difficulties and presented my report, which aroused interest among the experts,”
the student noted.
