SUN OF INDUSTRY 4.0: the university builds competencies for sustainable development

01:00, March 15, 2021

A well-known expert on innovative energy technologies presented an international webinar at the Graduate School of Economics and Management, UrFU

An international webinar "ENERGY TRANSITION IN THE PROSPECT OF THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION" was held at Ural Federal University, on the basis of the Graduate School of Economics and Management on March 11th. The headliner of the meeting was a well-known expert in the field of energy technologies, Professor Hussain H. Al Kayiem.

The event was attended by about 100 students, young researchers and teachers from Graduate School of Economics and Management, engineering institutes of UrFU, domestic and foreign universities. The webinar delegates, including scientists and officials from the UK, Germany, Malaysia, Iraq, Ghana, Ethiopia, Russia (St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Tyumen) discussed energy challenges in the context of the 4th industrial revolution and the prospects of the solar energy using  for the industry 4.0. A fruitful discussion and Q&Asession addressed much sharing interest in related matters to clean and efficient energy research, applications, and development under United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and Industry 4.0.

«We are very pleased to welcome Professor Hussain. The topic of the webinar is very important for UrFU and Ural regions. Cooperation between UrFU and the University of Petronas is fruitful and promising» - said Irina Turgel, Director of the School of Economics and Management of GSEM, opening the webinar.

Professor Hussain Al Kayiem (Universiti of Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia (UTP)) is a renowned expert in energy and thermohydraulic technologies and heads the Solar Thermal Advanced Research Center [STARC] at UTP. His achievements have been repeatedly recognized with international and national awards for outstanding contributions to energy science.

«Our collaboration has been started by the authoritative international conference Energy Quest -2014,, organized by research and educational center of engineering and economical research andeducational programs (REC ENGEC) at UrFU in conjunction with the Wessex Institute of Technology (UK),” explains the seminar coordinator, Head of the Department of Environmental Economics, REC ENGEC Elena Magaril. - Professor Hussain was also one of the speakers of the Young Researchers Seminar in the framework of the conference. Subsequently, we have repeatedly met at many prestigious scientific forums, both we are members of the editorial board of the International Journal of Energy Production and Management (a joint project of UrFU and British partners), which is ranked Q2 in the Scopus rating. As a part of the Cooperation Agreement between UTP and UrFU, a joint interdisciplinary research is being successfully implemented under the project "Development of practical methods for improving energy efficiency and environmental safety of the powergeneration system".Also, we developed the exchange of student groups for participation in short-term educational programs, which we plan to resume after the pandemic of Covid-19 will be stopped. The organized webinar is a kind of response to this challenge, and an opportunity to discuss modern trends in the development of alternative energy with a wide international audience».

The topic of the webinar is extremely relevant both for Russia and for other countries of the world in the context of global concern about climate change, the ongoing digitalization and intellectualization of energy. The UN set a prevention of climate change as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and linked the possible mitigation by accelerating clean energy and energy efficiency. Professor Hussain's presentation highlighted the key changes taking place in the global energy sector today - the context, challenges, threats and new rules of the market game that energy producers are already facing. Much attention was paid to the trends in the development of solar energy, the technologies of which demonstrate a rapid increase in technical and economic efficiency indicators simultaneously with a decrease in cost.

Energy storage technologies, renewable energy sources (primarily solar and wind energy), virtual power plants, digital transformation processes of energy production can no longer be studied and designed outside the context of the industrial revolution 4.0 and its many consequences in various aspects of society, in particular, the increasing spread so-called active consumers. They need new energy, aimed not at solving specific economic problems, but at satisfying the modern requirements of intelligent industries in energy carriers. The list of these requirements includes environmental friendliness, reliability and quality parameters of power supply, compliance with the required load schedule. Environmental challenges that pose a threat to modern civilization are shaping a new stage in the development of energy. Mikhail Kozhevnikov, a member of the organizing committee of the seminar, Deputy Head of the Department of Energy Management and Industrial Enterprises, comments:

«It is no coincidence that they say about a new stage of electrification. A stage that integrates the achievements of Industrial Revolution 4.0 in industry, the experience industry, everyday life and energy, including its avant-garde development direction. Of course, this process cannot but affect the educationalsector, because the success of the 4th industrial revolution and adherence to the context of sustainable development goals to a decisive extent depends on the quality of the human resource, its culture and competencies».

The webinar that took place is a definite contribution to the formation of such competencies.

The organizers and the speaker would like to thank the participants and everyone who contributed to the success of the event.