… Robots, machine tools, graphics stations, microscopes and entire laboratories! And most importantly – children with burning eyes, who are attracted by science and technology. On September 1, Governor of the Leningrad Region Alexander Drozdenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EuroChem Igor Nechaev and Executive Director of the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation Alexander Cherednik opened the Quantorium children's technopark in Kingisepp. The technopark with an area of more than 1000 square meters is designed to train 800 schoolchildren a year, and another 4000 students will participate in events of various formats.
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Russian entrepreneur Andrey Melnichenko owns EuroChem, SUEK, SGK and NTK. According to a study by the Expert magazine, the businessman is the largest private investor in the non-resource sector of the Russian economy. Over the past 15 years, he has invested about $ 21 billion in Russian industry.
The Andrey Melnichenko Charitable Foundation is a private foundation for infrastructure educational projects in the natural sciences. In 2017-2019, in the regions of presence of EuroChem, SUEK and SGK, the Fund opened 9 centers for children's scientific and engineering creativity in Barnaul, Biysk, Kemerovo, Kiselevsk, Leninsk-Kuznetsk, Nevinnomyssk, Novomoskovsk and Rubtsovsk. In them, more than 3000 schoolchildren of grades 5-11 study in depth the disciplines of the natural science cycle. For this, the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation creates all the necessary conditions: classrooms and laboratories are equipped, the best teachers from schools and universities in the regions are invited, classes for all students are free.
Now a children's technopark has also opened in Kingisepp …
“It is very correct that we have chosen the path of creating Quantorium together with the city-forming enterprise. We have achieved a good synergy, and today we understand that we need to go further – EuroChem has come up with a proposal to create an educational base for a middle professional level for its enterprises and other chemical industries that are currently being built in the region. It is important for us that young guys from Kingisepp come there – programmers, engineers, chemists-technologists. We will develop such a model of education and training, so that it is interesting to the district, company and region. “Quantorium” helps children to choose a profession at an early level, and they can become a strong professional in a technical school or university, “said Alexander Drozdenko. “I am sure that the guys who graduate from Quantorium will definitely stay with us, in the Leningrad Region.”
Please note that the agreement between the government of the Leningrad Region, EuroChem and the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation on the creation of the Quantorium children's technopark in Kingisepp was signed in August 2020. The project cost is 108 million rubles.
“The Children's Technopark in Kingisepp, created with the strong support of the Governor and the Government of the Leningrad Region, is an important stage in the continuation of the large-scale joint program of EuroChem and the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation to organize centers for supporting gifted children in Russian regions,” said Igor Nechaev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EuroChem … – A new generation of children studying at Quantorium will come to the industry as top-class specialists, which will be a real breakthrough for the development of the industry. This educational center will become the foundation for the development of engineering specialties, which are in great demand in our country. “
FROM BIOTECHNOLOGY TO TECHNICAL ENGLISH
From the beginning of the academic year, training will be conducted in the areas of “High-tech”, “IT-quantum”, “Cosmokvantum”, “Nanokvantum”, “Promrobokvantum” and “Bioquantum”. Training in additional programs is also provided: technical English, quantum chess and mathematics. Physical and chemical laboratories will start operating in 2022. In parallel with the educational process in the technopark, the continuous development of general cultural competences for children and their parents will take place.
“The opening of the Quantorium children's technopark in Kingisepp gives a new impetus to the development of the educational program of the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year,” added Alexander Cherednik, executive director of the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation. – We strive to provide schoolchildren living in Russian regions with a unique opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of the subjects of the natural and mathematical cycle in the most modern conditions and learn to successfully apply them in practice. We hope that young Kingisepp talents will be able to truly get carried away with science and invention, prove themselves and in the future become highly qualified specialists who will join the ranks of leading Russian companies, strengthen the scientific and industrial spheres of the Leningrad Region. “
