Creation of strategic academic units in universities

In 2015 the CSR “North-West” took part in design and establishment of the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies in SPBSTU. This is the first and innovative institution of this format in higher education in Russia. The underlying model is the rapidly growing global IAMT format.

Our project in 2016 was the SUAI School of Engineering – one of the newest divisions of the university, organized as a network of laboratories jointly with technology and manufacturing companies. The key focus of the School is on engineering and digital professions of the future. The system partner of the School is the Young Professionals Union. In cooperation with the Union the university every year creates new competencies and leads in FutureSkills competitions. The school is patterned after the "Learning Factory" – an international format of practice-oriented training.

In 2017 the CSR North-West helped to set up the SPbPU Institute of Biomedical Systems and Biotechnology a global-level competence center aimed at cooperation with rapidly growing St. Petersburg biomedical companies and clusters.

In the same year, CSR "North-West" in partnership with Atomstroyexpo (ASE) and MEPhI created and helpd launch the first programs of the Higher Engineering School of NRNU MEPhI. In 2017 the Higher School of Economics started to enroll students in master's degree educational programs, implemented jointly with ASE EC JSC. The purpose of the programs is to prepare engineers for the digital future, as well as to set up testing grounds for new solutions for digital business. The first pilot master's program was called “Engineers of the Digital Future”. Five teams, each consisting of 4 students receiving education in different fields (developers, designers, computational physicists and system engineers), solved practical problems of JSC ASE EC, together with the company's employees. Students started working at ASE from the beginning of their studies. Project teams, consisting of students receiving education in different fields, solved the company's practical problems guided by mentors from ASE. The first group of students graduated the HES MEPhI with a master’s degree in 2017. The average score in thesis defense exceeded 4.5, seven former students graduated with honors. 

Later, the HES launched several more similar programs in cooperation with other partners.

Also in 2017, the CSR "North-West", in partnership with Atomstroyexpo (ASE) and the Skolkovo School of Management, designed and launched the first programs of the Digital Transformation Center. The Center focuses on client-oriented programs for managing digital business transformation.