BelAZ to open Innovation Competence Center at Saint Petersburg Mining University

The BelAZ Innovation Competence Center will use the best technological solutions in engineering, digital and information technology in the mining industry. The center will help the university improve educational, scientific and practical training of students and also BelAZ customers undergoing advanced training courses at the university. It will also engage in research across the priority areas for the mining industry. The results of this work will be used to draw up proposals and recommendations for the mining industry," the press service said.

BelAZ and SPMU are long-term partners. Each of them has an extensive experience and fundamental knowledge in the mining industry.

The center will also house digital mining laboratories to be established by joint efforts of BelAZ and Tsifra Group. “We will bring to Saint Petersburg truly exclusive equipment provided by reliable partners of BelAZ, namely numerous test sets and a dynamic auto simulator. Being one of BelAZ's technology partners in this project, Tsifra Group will provide the Saint Petersburg university with a workstation for remote steering of a BelAZ rock hauler. Students and specialists of mining enterprises, who undertake refresher courses at the Saint Petersburg university, will have an opportunity to operate remotely robotic complexes at the mining plants and BelAZ trial site in real time. BelAZ simulators will provide an opportunity to learn more about the intelligent systems monitoring the operation of rock haulers," the company said.

The center will make use of virtual reality technology. VR equipment helps simulate abnormal situations, which are often dangerous or too expensive to reproduce in real life. With the help of such technologies, students will study in depth not only the operation of mining equipment but also see the real machinery, not just models or dummies.

“Today, mining companies need professionals with knowledge of the modern machinery that is used in the manufacturing process. It should be understood that the machinery is under constant improvement and modernization. In order to increase the efficiency of its operation and avoid mistakes, specialists need to develop their professional skills. This is why we want to set up a platform in St. Petersburg to conduct practical training for students and our customers undergoing advanced training courses. The choice of the mining university is not accidental. It is our strategic partner, which not only trains personnel for the mining industry, but also spearheaded the initiative to launch a system of professional certification of engineers,” said Sergei Nikiforovich.

Today's labor market has become more demanding for young specialists, the rector of Saint Petersburg Mining University said. “Graduates of technical universities no longer have time for long adaptation to production, which means that the university, if it claims to be a flagship university, must provide its students with an opportunity to acquire not only knowledge, but also all the necessary professional skills. We should constantly work on creating a comfortable environment for acquiring knowledge and developing the material base. This is one of our priorities,” stressed Vladimir Litvinenko.

The project roadmap has been developed, according to which the BelAZ Innovation Competence Center will open its doors by the start of the next academic year. The opening ceremony is planned to mark Machine Builder's Day (26 September).

The public joint-stock company (OAO) BelAZ is the managing company of the holding company BelAZ. BelAZ is the world's leading manufacturer of haul trucks and transport equipment for mining industry and civil engineering industry. BelAZ accounts for some 30% of the world market of haul trucks with an extremely large carrying capacity. The company makes the world's largest haul truck with the carrying capacity of 450 tonnes.