Participants of the Master's program of a System Operator from Tomsk improve their education

A remote defense of final qualifying papers in the specialty "Information Technologies in the Electric Power Industry" took place at the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU). Graduates of the Master's program of the System Operator received their second higher education diplomas.

JSC SO UES is a long-time partner of the Reliable Change Foundation and its flagship project, the International Engineering Championship CASE-IN. Students The National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University regularly participates in the engineering competition and demonstrates its breakthrough ideas.

This was the second defense for TPU undergraduates who studied simultaneously in two specialized training programs for JSC SO UES. In June 2021, undergraduates successfully defended their final qualifying papers and received diplomas of higher education in the specialty "Management of energy systems".  

Over the course of two and a half years, ten graduates of the TPU Bachelor's degree received simultaneous training in two specialized master's degree programs developed by the System Operator together with TPU. All undergraduates of the study group successfully passed the final tests: nine people received the grade "excellent", one – "good". Six graduates completed their studies with "red" diplomas.

The topics of the final qualifying papers in the specialty "Information Technologies in the electric power industry" are related to the activities of the System Operator. In them, the students continued to develop the qualifying papers that they defended in June 2021 in the related specialty "Energy System Regime Management".

The State Attestation Commission (SAC) included representatives of the Joint Dispatch Management of the Siberian Energy System (UES) Branch of JSC SO UES and teachers of Tomsk Polytechnic University. The head of the SAC was Vladislav Slesarenko, Director of Information Technology at the UDE of Siberia. He noted the high level of graduation projects, some of which could qualify for PhD theses.

The development of a dual higher education program has become a response to modern requirements for the level of qualifications of specialists working in the operational dispatch management system. The need to train versatile specialists with knowledge in two areas is due to the increasing role of information technology in managing the modes of electric power systems, the active introduction of remote control technologies and automation of technological processes. In 2021, the joint project of JSC SO UES and NI TPU "Dual Master's Degree – synergy of electric power industry and information technologies" was awarded the diploma of the VIII All-Russian Competition of best practices of employers in the socio-humanitarian field "Creating the future" by the Association of IACS and the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.

Such specialists are especially relevant in the context of the introduction of a universal information exchange format based on the standards of the common information model in the System Operator and in the Russian energy sector as a whole (Common Information Model – CIM) and its application to solve urgent problems of operational dispatch management and long-term planning of the development of the UES of Russia.

According to the managers of the dispatch centers, graduates show high results in their work.

"Graduates of TPU with one master's degree, who studied under our specialized program, demonstrated good preparedness to work in a System Operator. The change in the training program for undergraduates at NI TPU allowed them to immerse themselves more deeply into the specifics of information technology, to provide more basic knowledge and skills in this field. Graduates who have received two diplomas are particularly pleased with their confident command of the tools for working with the CIM information model, and their skills in working with DECs", – said Alexander Vyaltsev, Head of the Automated Dispatch Control Systems Service at the Siberian Federal University.

This is the third graduation of specialists who have completed the dual Master's degree program initiated by the System Operator. The first issue took place in February 2020. All graduates of the year 2022 received assignments to work in the executive office and branches of the System Operator in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kemerovo, Abakan, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk. In the course of their studies, undergraduates master the ability to solve complex practical problems at the junction of two specialties, which is confirmed by further employment in departments of both the technological functional unit and the information technology unit: electrical mode services, automated control control systems services, technological systems implementation and development service, DEC NP implementation service.

"Dual education provides good knowledge in the field of information technology, which makes it possible to perform the tasks assigned to the specialist much more efficiently. At the same time, the experience gained during the training allows you to consciously use various automation tools", – says Nikolai Volokhov, a specialist of the 1st category of the Electrical Modes Service of the Siberian Federal University, a graduate of TPU in 2020.

NI TPU is one of the leading technical universities in the country and was selected by the System Operator as one of the basic educational institutions for the implementation of joint training programs for energy specialists. From 2008 to 2022, 155 people were trained in specialized master's degree programs of JSC SO UES at NI TPU.  127 of them are employed in the branches of the System Operator.

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