Questions to the text:

1 Who initiated the foundation of the Moscow Engineering school?

2. Where was the Moscow Engineering school situated in its early days?

3. What was the course of study like?

4. What famous names are connected with the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering ?

5. When did the University get its status?

The History of the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering

34 years ago the Institute of Railway Transport Engineers was built due to the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, according to the order of the Transport Ministry of the USSR on July 18, 1975. The great construction that gathered representatives of all the republics of the vast country – the USSR – needed qualified staff.

Undoubtedly, the establishment of a higher educational institution is not an easy task. The issue of railway staff training arose simultaneously with the Trans-Siberian Mainline construction. The Trans-Siberian Mainline reached Irkutsk in 1903, and in some years a school for railway workers was founded. In the mid-1930s the higher education institutes appeared in Irkutsk, which specialized in railway staff training. These were branches of the Khabarovsk and the Novosibirsk Universities of Railway Transport Engineers.

In other words, the prehistory of the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering took shape in staff teamwork, which solved questions of staff training with higher technical education. That's why it is considered that the history of the University's foundation and development started from the exploitation of the Trans-Siberian Mainline, which celebrated its 100^th anniversary in 2005.

In the first year there were only two departments at the Institute of the Railway Transport Engineers and the number of students was about 500, but after the establishment of 4 new departments in 1981 the number of students reached 5000.

The Institute was expanding, and in 2000 it gained the official status of the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering. This fact means the recognition of its scientific development's level and complexity of resolved tasks.

Over 30 years of practice more than 15,000 specialists graduated from the University with higher vocational education.

Almost 80 percent of the engineering corps at East-Siberian railway are ISURE graduates. Among them there are prominent leaders of the railway and transport industry, businessmen and politicians.

Questions to the text:

1 What was the reason for the establishment of the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering?

2. What developments of the educational system did the Trans-Siberian Mainline construction entail?

3. When was the construction of the most important Siberian mainlines started?

4. What was the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering like in its early days?

5. What is the main sphere of professional activity of the University graduates?

General overview of the Omsk State Transport University

The Omsk State Transport University (OSTU) is one of the oldest educational institutions in Siberia. The fact of its establishment is connected to the beginning of the great Trans-Siberian Railway construction which created the need in qualified railway transportation specialists.

The University’s history started in the nineties of the 19th-century. It was in 1896 when the Tomsk Technologic Institute (TTI) was established by the decree of the Emperor Nicholas II. In 1900 the training of locomotive and car engineers began.

In 1961 the institute was moved to Omsk and in 1997 it acquired the university status.

The present day OSTU is a multi-discipline institute of higher education providing training in a wide range of higher professional education syllabuses: engineering, industrial production, transport and communication, economics, management and others with a 4-year program for bachelor’s degree, a 5-year program – for specialists, a 6-year program – for master’s degree.

High quality theoretical schooling and professional training of its graduates is provided by qualified faculty members, material resources, favorable conditions for students dwelling, nutrition, sports and recreation as well as scientific researches for production and transport enterprises conducted at the University.

Its graduates work as regional railways heads, major industrial and transport enterprises directors, bank managers both in Russia and abroad.

Currently there are 6 departments: the Department of Mechanics, the Department of Automation, Telecommunications and Information Technologies, the Department of Heat-and-Power Engineering, the Department of Electromechanics, the Department of Management and Economy, the Medical Department.

OSTU trains 13,000 specialists in different majors and specialties.

Thanks to the financial support rendered by the Ministry of Railway Transportation of the Russian Federation and West-Siberian Railway Division it became possible to carry out fundamental modernization of the University laboratories from 2000 to 2008 as well as teachers professional development at the best railway enterprises and in the field of information technologies.

The University library (800,000 copies) is the methodical center of the university libraries of Omsk. The library has the electronic catalog and uses up-to-date information technologies.

The University is the leading academic, scientific and industrial complex with sophisticated experimental and pilot production facilities where practical challenges of railway transport are met.

The major scientific challenges of the University researchers are the rolling stock efficiency and reliability increase, rolling stock units and components restoration and repair enhancement, railway traffic safety increase, energy and resource-saving technologies and equipment, the improvement in the supply systems of electric railways, effective automation, telemechanics and communication devices maintenance and diagnostic technologies development.

OSTU has its branch in Taiga of Kemerovo region.

OSTU students can go in for various sports – soccer, volleyball, basketball, weight-lifting, track and field athletics, tennis, badminton, swimming, calisthenics and gymnastics.

There are 4 academic buildings, a railway equipment training ground, 5 dormitories, a dining-hall, a polyclinic, a culture and entertainment complex, sports grounds.

The core faculty consists of 400 specialists. 67 % of them have academic degrees and statuses: 13 % are doctors of sciences and professors, 54 % – candidates of sciences and assistant professors. 23 persons among the leading scientists are public academies of sciences full members and correspondent members.