Think Like an Engineer
“Think like an engineer” is the name of the competition of educational and research projects for schoolchildren, which the Department for Pre-University Training and Career Guidance of KBSU held for the second time since the start of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia.
The idea belongs to Artur Nasipov, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Management in Tourism, SHI KBSU.
Such a competition or, if you like, an “engineering Olympiad” has been needed for a long time,” — he believes. – Although, by and large, it can hardly be called an Olympiad, because we are used to the fact that schoolchildren have subject Olympiads, mainly in those subjects in which they pass the Unified State Examination, plus life safety and their native language, and the engineering specialty involves the integration of several subjects. This is a synthesis of science and practice, it is a technology that includes methods and techniques of work, it is a fusion of different sciences. Our task was to unite schoolchildren interested in scientific, design, research activities, to give them the opportunity to express themselves. And, of course, this competition is part of the career guidance work that the university conducts with schoolchildren. Engineering specialties are now in great demand in the country, and I would like really enthusiastic, smart and talented young people to go into this profession, go consciously, already having at least some training and a great desire to learn.
According to the rules of the competition, which we developed last year, students in grades 9-11 can take part in it, but there were so many much younger applicants that everyone had to be allowed to participate in it — it was simply impossible to refuse! So far, our “age record” is held by a third-grader. This year we refused to choose the winners and prize-winners in each nomination, we made a common «pedestal», it would be too difficult to recruit a panel of judges for each nomination — after all, we have seventeen of them! Here and ecology, and robotics, and urban planning, and «smart city», and «smart home», and techno-art, and much more. Any projects are welcome — from household ones, which can be used even today, to fantastic ones, which may be implemented in many years. We identified the main requirements for our contestants and their works: compliance with the topic and content, practical significance and the ability to be fluent in the material, confidently navigate the chosen topic, be able to explain it, tell and answer questions from experts.
They did not regret at all that they lowered the age of the participants — very interesting works can be done by very young researchers, and they defend them very confidently. The competition really reveals talented and, I’m not even afraid of the word, brilliant children. This year, for example, Rustam Gusulaev, a sixth grader from Nalchik, became the absolute winner — a unique child outperformed even high school students in the competition, presenting his “smart city” to the experts. He conquered us not only with an interesting project, but also with answers to the most unexpected questions. When I asked him half-jokingly whether it would be possible for schoolchildren in the amusement park of his “smart city” to pay not with money, but with excellent grades, he caught fire: “Interesting idea! But this is possible, since now schools have electronic diaries! This means that it will be possible to read information from them, for example, on special turnstiles.” And when the experts asked if he could now, studying in the sixth grade, lead a robotics circle at school, he regretfully replied that “this is a very tempting offer, but he is forced to refuse due to lack of time. If only in August.
According to the head of the Department for pre-university training and career guidance Aksana Karasheva, those participants in the competition who will enter KBSU in engineering areas will receive additional points to the USE scores or to the sum of points in the entrance exams. That is, participation in the competition can increase the chances of potential KBSU applicants to enroll in their chosen field of study.
Probably, one should not be surprised that almost the entire «pedestal of honor» was occupied by students of the Nalchik school No. 4. In this gymnasium, robotics is taught as a school subject from the first year of study, there have always been winners and prize-winners of various competitions in robotics, and with the opening of the Quantorium gymnasium, their number has increased manifold. Plus, ecologists, biologists, electrical engineers and many more “young scientists” were added here, ready to make new discoveries in various fields of science and win competitions, which, by the way, was proved at “Think Like an Engineer”. If we talk about the young roboticists of this gymnasium participating in the competition, the entire team of five people, led by their mentor Tlostanbi Tatrokov, received awards and prizes — both in the «general standings» and for «the originality of the idea.» Among them is Rustam Gusulaev — the absolute winner of the competition. “A very enthusiastic and very talented child,” — Tatrokov says of him. – He has been engaged in robotics since the first grade, additionally went to classes at the Children’s Academy of Creativity «Solnechny City» — until the gymnasium opened its Quantorium. Now he is ready to spend the whole day here.
In general, we have a lot of enthusiastic guys, we almost every month take part in competitions, olympiads and competitions in robotics — we just recently returned from the All-Russian “Robofest”, performed at “Think Like an Engineer” and are already preparing for new competitions. At the «Think Like an Engineer» competition, Rustam presented his «smart city».
This is a working model, where there is a shopping center, a railway, a construction site, a park, a power plant and more. All this was created with the safety and comfort of residents in mind. The idea of creating a “smart city” came to me when I was in Moscow,” — explains Rustam himself. – And robotics classes helped to realize this idea. I wanted to create a layout of a city equipped with all kinds of computerized structures, houses, objects, streets, communication routes, communications. So that digital technologies improve the lives of citizens at all levels. So that thanks to intelligent systems, problems with the consumption of water, electricity, air pollution, garbage, noise and parking spaces are solved. In this city, all processes are controlled, optimized, as a result, a person and society as a whole get the best result. With the help of smart technologies, urgent problems are solved faster and more efficiently. I created my layout using parts and nodes from different kits and constructors. In addition to the winners and prize-winners, the experts also noted the authors of the most original works. Eleventh-graders Elina Bykova and Aida Bichoeva were awarded for the originality of their architectural work. They study in different classes, they applied for the competition without saying a word, they say: “Before, they hardly knew each other, but the competition brought together and even made friends — they brought together common interests and love for architecture.
Fine arts and architecture are my old passion, — Elina admits. — I decided a long time ago that I would enter KBSU with a degree in architecture. I graduated from art school, now I am studying in the physics and mathematics class, that is, I am purposefully preparing. I myself found information about the competition on the KBSU website and immediately decided that I would take part in it. I didn’t think about the idea of the project for a long time either — of course, Suprematism in architecture! I tried to combine the art and science of building with my favorite trend in avant-garde art. There was a month to prepare the project: I studied the works of avant-garde artists — Rozanova, Kandinsky, Malevich, especially the projection stage of Suprematism, when the figures do not float in space, but are layered on top of each other. I am incredibly interested in the architectons of Malevich — Suprematist spatial objects, which in the 1920s were considered by many to be the prototype of the architecture of the future. From drawing paper, cardboard and colored paper, I made my own architecton. I did not determine the functional significance of this building — it could equally be a residential building, a state institution, and an art object; for me, the main thing was to show the beauty of Suprematism in architecture.
Aida Bichoeva studies in a specialized social and humanitarian class, draws “just like a self-taught person, she didn’t study it on purpose,” but she also submitted an application for the “Think Like an Engineer” contest without hesitation.
I only realized a year ago that I made a mistake with the choice of profile at school, she says. — In general, the “social and humanitarian” profile is chosen by many of those who simply have not decided on their future profession. Now I have already made up my mind, and the competition also had an impact on my choice — I will enter KBSU with a degree in architecture. I always liked to draw, but I didn’t seriously think about architecture until I read a book about Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, an ancient Roman architect and mechanic, an encyclopedic scientist of the period of “August classicism” or the “golden age” of the reign of Emperor Octavian Augustus. Vitruvius is known for his treatise «Ten Books on Architecture», in which he summarized the knowledge of that time about the art of building and, in particular, deduced the «three laws» of architecture — the famous «Vitruvius Triad»: strength, utility, beauty. He was the first of the architectural theorists to hypothesize about the emergence of architecture from imitation of nature, posed the problem of the golden mean between theory and practice, described the basic concepts of aesthetics, the proportionality of a building and a person, and for the first time in history investigated the problem of musical room acoustics.
Very little is known about the life of this brilliant architect, and what is known is of a probabilistic nature, since the source of biographical information is the works of Vitruvius himself, but he interested me so much that I represented him “live” more than once, thinking about his character, preferences, interests. And I wanted to make a model of a house where he would be comfortable to live — in everyday and aesthetic terms. It took a month for everything — I drew, cut, glued. I think he would like my project…
Gulnara Urusova.
Translated by Gekkieva J.A.