On March 9th the delegation of OOO “SILIKON” visited KNRTU. The purpose of the meeting between the heads of the university and the enterprise with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan was the resumption of personnel training for the reviving production of organosilicon materials on the basis of KNRTU.

Since 2014, KNRTU has closely cooperated with OOO “SILIKON” to train specialists for the new production facility, the construction of which was terminated in 2018 due to economic reasons. The Institute of Polymers of KNRTU successfully implemented an educational program and created a specialized group, where specialists were trained alongside with the production.

At the end of the last year the Russian government decided to resume the construction of the silicone plants, the production of which is very important for the country. The general developer of the factory construction is the Design Institute of KNRTU Soyuzkhimpromproekt, and the licensor of the project is the State Research Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Organoelemental Compounds (GNIIChTEOS).

The Acting Rector of KNRTU Yury Kazakov also mentioned the issue of joint scientific research. Today, an R&D center with a special-purpose rubber laboratory is being created at KNRTU as part of the Advanced Engineering School program to develop a new product line. SILIKON's management warmly supported this idea and expressed it willingness to take part in the project and consider KNRTU as its leading partner.

Representatives of the enterprise together with the university management and colleagues from the Institute of Polymers and the Department of Synthetic Rubber Technology discussed the possibilities for this. There is a developed curriculum and relevant competencies of teachers. Already in 2023, the university is ready to accept applicants to this program for budget-funded places.

The enterprise first of all needs an educational program of retraining and advanced training of personnel, and by 2025-26, when the start-up of the enterprise is planned, it will need graduates - bachelors, masters, and specialists. In the future, the Institute of Polymers will create a basic department of OOO “SILIKON” and a new research laboratory will appear.

As a result of the meeting, a protocol on the intentions of the parties and further actions of KNRTU and OOO “SILIKON” in the educational and scientific fields was developed.