Federal Vice Prime Minister Visits ASU

Dr. Olga Golodets, Vice Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, has visited Astrakhan State University.

The distinguished guest was accompanied by Dr. Irina Potekhina, Deputy Minister of Education & Science of the Russian Federation, by Dr. Alexander Zhilkin, Governor of Astrakhan Region, and by Dr. Vitaliy Gutman, Minister of Education & Science of Astrakhan Region.

Dr. Golodets was demonstrated our main facilities and told about the key fields of our research activities. In particular, Dr. Alexey Rybakov, Director of our Institute of Researches & Solutions to Technological Tasks, told her about our developments of robots to meet the needs of emergency aid agencies, shipbuilding and oil-and-gas-recovering companies. Our students gave Dr. Golodets a presentation of an underwater robot based on neural network control, having remarked that this project is being carried out in close cooperation with organizations that specialize in underwater robotics. Another development that was of special interest for our distinguished guest is spectacles for people with a low eyesight. The device may be connected with a smartphone, enabling its owner to move and avoid any obstacles that his or her head might come across. Dr. Golodets highly appreciated the demonstrated projects and recommended that our R & D team initiated a serial production of their developments.

Our Innovative Technological Center to Create Multimedia Content was also of special interest for the Vice Prime Minsister of our country. Dr. Olga Vorontsova, Director of this Center, told the guest about a unique research unit that operates at our University – a motion capture system that provides a 3D video analysis; the unit was produced by the Vicon Company (Great Britain). Besides, staff of this center, jointly with the Rus Regional Center of Social Rehabilitation, is developing a technique to provide early diagnostics of human locomotor apparatus while walking. Jointly with researchers of Astrakhan State Medical University, our R & D team also executes projects to adapt individuals with special needs. In her turn, Dr. Golodets pointed out that such R & D activities are certainly viable and topical; she wished our researchers good luck in their further activities.

The delegation also visited the REC “Caspian Higher School of Interpreting & Translation”, whose Director Prof. Olga Egorova told the distinguished guests about training of qualified conference interpreters in close cooperation with the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as about the unique range of foreign languages that ASU offers and about our students’ practical trainings outside Russia.

Dr. Golodets thanked everyone for an interesting excursion and wished ASU smooth sailing and successful realization of all its ideas.