Roundtable Discussion: “Challenges in Aviation Education in Ukraine”
On February 14, 2024, a round table meeting "Problems of aircraft engineering education in Ukraine" was held within the framework of the "Aircraft Engineering Education Renovation" project (uCAREER - "Aircraft Engineering Education Renovation").
The purpose of the round table was to involve employers, representatives of specialized higher education institutions and international partners to discuss problems, challenges and directions of development of higher education in the field of aircraft construction, in particular, in the field of manufacturing products from composite materials.
The meeting was attended by more than 80 participants, in particular, representatives of the US Embassy in Ukraine and the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine.
Employers were represented by Progresstech-Ukraine LLC, KB Aerocopter LLC, State Enterprise "Pivdenne Design Bureau" named after M.K. Yangel", State Enterprise "Antonov".
From the side of the Higher Education Institution of Ukraine, the management, teachers and students of the National Technical University of Ukraine "Ihor Sikorskyi Kyiv Polytechnic Institute", the National Aviation University, the National Aerospace University named after M.E. Zhukovsky "Kharkiv Aviation Institute", National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute", National University "Chernihiv Polytechnic", Lutsk National Technical University, Kherson National Technical University, as well as representatives of the University of Arizona and Old Dominion University from the US Higher Education Institution.
Congratulatory speech was given by: Mykhailo Zgurovsky, rector of KPI named afterIgor Sikorskyi; Scott Whitmore, Cultural Affairs Officer, Public Affairs Department, US Embassy in Ukraine; Dr. David W. Hahn, Dean, College of Engineering, University of Arizona, USA.
During the meeting, reports were heard from both representatives of higher education institutions of the USA and Ukraine, as well as employers.
During the meeting, representatives of the US higher education institutions shared the experience of the interaction of American universities with industry, the completion of pre-diploma practice by students of higher education, told about the filling of courses on aerospace structures and materials, in particular composite materials.
The trends of the labor market in the aircraft industry, the problems and challenges faced by companies when working with composite materials, the evolution of educational programs of higher education institutions of Ukraine in the direction of using modern materials were also discussed.
All participants took an active part in the discussion and discussion, which at the end of the event made it possible to formulate thorough recommendations for the development of certificate training programs in the specialty "Applied Mechanics". It was also proposed to create an Advisory Council of Employers of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering of KPI named after Igor Sikorsky with the aim of improving the quality of training of higher education applicants and ensuring an effective connection between the Higher Education Institution and the aircraft industry.
The project "Aircraft Engineering Education Renovation" (uCAREER - "Aircraft Engineering Education Renovation") is implemented under the Program "Small Grants of Public Diplomacy - EDUCATION for 2023" with the sponsorship of the US State Department and the US Embassy in Ukraine (the U.S.Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine).
