A Guide to the Russian Academy of Sciences - University of Texas ...

The Far Eastern State Technical University (FESTU)
Founded in 1899 as the "Oriental Institute," since 1923 the "Far Eastern Polytechnical
Institute," it was renamed by decree of the Russian Federation government in
December 1992. Overall, FESTU is reported to rank in the top 100 Russian
universities. The university has approximately l0,000 students and four branch
campuses. A faculty of 700 includes three academicians, 100 doctors of science,
and 400 candidates for doctors of science ("candidate" is roughly equivalent to
Ph.D.). Among the disciplinary areas covered by the university's 18 major
departments are electrical engineering, radio and instrumentation, natural sciences,
architecture, naval engineering, economics and management, mechanical
engineering, heat and power engineering, and the humanities. A six-year program
is offered for a bachelor's diploma degree in naval engineering. Ph.D. programs are
offered in ocean science, ship construction, and other fields in technology,
economics, math, and philosophy. The humanities program emphasizes technical
language understanding in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Approximately
36 students from different countries are enrolled in FESTU.
Academician Gennady Turmov, president of FESTU, showed the WTEC team four ocean
engineering projects. The first two were remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the
third used optical fibers as sensors for ocean tomography, and the fourth was an
artificial neural network to interpret sensor data. The team was told that 39 ROVs
have been designed by FESTU. Most of them were designed for hydroacoustical,
magnetic, and photographic work. The team saw three of these ROVs. FESTU's
two 6,000 meter Roby submersibles (Fig. 1.3) were used to recover the flight
recorder from Korean Airlines' Flight 007 in the Sea of Japan. These vehicles were
designed for rescue operations, taking photo surveys, and coring. They are also
equipped with manipulators for work tasks.
1. The Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI)
Founded in 1973, the Pacific Oceanological Institute in Vladivostok is the major institute of
the FAR EASTERN BRANCH RAS. It has a staff of over 600, including
approximately 270 scientists. Researchers at the institute conduct experiments along
the Pacific Rim from the Bering Sea to the South China Sea. In addition, POI
actively participates in international projects such as the World Ocean Circulation
Experiment (WOCE).
The POI laboratories and departments focus on the following research
areas:
Experimental and theoretical oceanology investigations of oceanprocesses and dynamics
Underwater acoustics
Ocean-atmosphere interaction
Assessment of the status of water ecosystems
Geological/geophysical investigations of the sea bottom
The Institute of Marine Technology Problems (IMTP)
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