We are talking about the new faculty of MGSU – “Information Systems, Technologies and Automation in Construction” (ISTAS) – with the dean of the ISTAS faculty, chairman of the NMS IST UMO and ASV, professor Andrey Volkov.
– Andrey Anatolyevich, what is the basis, in your opinion, for the very fact of creating a new faculty?
– The logical and intuitive basis for the decision taken as a result of the difficult and lengthy work of the university management and specialized experts are, first of all, the tasks that the ISTAS faculty is focused on within the framework of the general concept of improving the structure of MGSU. We are talking about the active development of «information» areas at the university, which can be divided into five main ones: basic education in the field of information systems and technologies in construction; IT education in the form of specializations in the main «construction» specialties; training of highly qualified scientific personnel in graduate school, doctoral studies and in the form of a candidate's degree in «information» specialties; advanced training and other additional educational services in the form of subject-oriented courses in various «information» areas in construction; research (including contractual) activities of our university in the field of new information systems and technologies in construction.
It is obvious that it is possible to solve these problems to the required degree of efficiency and comprehensiveness only by uniting all the resources of our university, which are in one way or another involved in the area of modern construction science and education, which is commonly called today “information technology”.
– The result of such a merger was the new faculty?
— Absolutely right. It should be noted that due to a number of objective and subjective reasons, the university's potential in the field of information technology was significantly dispersed for a long time. The point is that some ideologically and substantively related departments were subordinated to different faculties. For example, after the formation of the Faculty of «Economics, Organization and Management of Construction» (EOCS) in 1984 by merging the Faculty of «Automated Control Systems» (ACS), which had existed at MISI since 1971, with the Faculty of «Economics and Organization of Construction» (EOC), the Department of «Automation in the Construction Industry» (now the Department of «Automation of Engineering and Construction Technologies» (AIST)) again became part of the Faculty of «Mechanization and Automation of Construction». And the Department of Construction Informatics was created at the turn of the 21st century and still functions at the Faculty of Thermal Power Engineering (TPE).
– In other words, the “new” faculty of ISTAS is not new at all?
– Exactly! Today we are proud to talk about the restoration of the ACS faculty in a new quality that corresponds to the modern level of scientific and technical progress in construction. In the year of the 85th anniversary of our university, we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the “old” ACS faculty – the “new” ISTAS faculty! Admission of students in the specialty 220301 – “Automation of technological processes and production”, graduated by this department, was already carried out in 2006 at the new faculty.
– Andrey Anatolyevich, returning to the tasks that the ISTAS faculty is focused on solving, please tell us about the development prospects of the areas you listed.
– Three departments, which are now part of the faculty of ISTUS, CAD in construction and AIST, implement the training of IT specialists as a basic course with a small share of “construction” disciplines, focusing on the automation of all levels of management and design in the field of construction.
As for the second direction of the faculty's development — IT education in the form of specializations of the main «construction» specialties — we should pay attention to the experience of the SI and AIST departments, which lead «information» specializations at other faculties of our university. It seems to me that with the help of the new ISTAS faculty, such a practice can be developed within the framework of other main specialties of MGSU. It is obvious that in the leading Russian construction university it is more effective to solve such problems together.
— What are the prospects for advanced training and additional professional education at the faculty?
— This area is one of the most relevant at present. The fact is that construction universities today are experiencing an acute shortage of teachers in «information» disciplines. In this regard, the initiative of our university to resume the practice of advanced training of teachers in the field of «Information Systems and Technologies» has met with broad support from regional universities that are part of the Educational and Methodological Association of Universities and the Association of Construction Universities.
Another promising area is advanced training and additional educational services in various «information» areas in construction for specialists and managers of construction organizations in Moscow and Russia.
In the near future – creation and development of such popular areas of educational services as correspondence education and external studies.
– What is the situation with science at the faculty?
– High-quality professional education is possible today only on a solid and, what is especially important in our case, modern scientific basis. Today, four scientific schools operate in the departments that are part of the faculty, graduate and doctoral students are trained, and defenses are constantly taking place.
We are actively searching for contractual topics for research and development (R&D) in the field of our professional activity, and I am sure that in the near future we will bring this area to a qualitatively new level.
– Andrey Anatolyevich, does the faculty cooperate with foreign construction universities?
– Yes, of course. The faculty is an active participant in the working group on the Information Technology direction of the European Council for Civil Engineering Education and Training (EUCEET). Today, our partners are construction and technical universities in Germany, France, Greece, Poland, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and many others. Several international student educational programs of inclusive education have been opened. Unfortunately, not all of our students have yet realized the importance of learning a foreign language, which somewhat complicates the process of cooperation at the student level. I hope that the situation will change for the better every year. |
