After full-scale invasion, demand for engineers increases enormously – KPI rector

This was reported by the Rector of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Anatoliy Melnychenko, who spoke in an interview with Ukrinform.

“Demand among applicants is one side of the demand for educational programs in our university, and this demand often does not reflect the real needs of the current and future economy. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the demands of the labor market for specialists. With the beginning of a full-scale invasion, the demand for engineering specialists from employers has increased enormously. They need specialists in applied mechanics, chemical technology, biotechnology, materials science, electronics, telecommunications and, of course, IT,” he emphasized.

In his opinion, Ukraine can become one of the key states that will produce high-tech weapons and military equipment and compete in global markets. “And to this end, engineers will be needed – from a chemical technologist to a mechanic, a materials scientist, an electronics engineer,” the rector emphasized.

According to Melnychenko, there is a stable demand from applicants for specialties related to IT: software engineering, information technology, computer engineering, and computer science.

“In addition, the university is one of the leaders in recruiting in aviation engineering, biomedical engineering, avionics, and nuclear power engineering. Educational programs in a humanitarian and social science areas are also in demand. For example, psychology was in high demand among applicants last year,” he said.

According to the rector, KPI also has a certificate program “Military Psychology”. After all, today there is already a need to work with people who are fighting and with those who are returning from the front. “For this purpose, we have opened a Veteran Development Center, introduced the position of Assistant Rector for Work with Veterans and Veteran Organizations,” the rector noted.

Melnychenko also said that KPI has launched programs in engineering of unmanned and autonomous systems, electronic warfare technologies, robotics, cybersecurity of critical infrastructure facilities, engineering of weapons systems and military equipment, as well as educational programs in humanitarian demining at the bachelor’s and master’s levels.

“We are aware that the problem of demining will stay with us for decades, taking into account the size of the territories that will require professional clearing… One of the ways to reduce the time for clearing Ukrainian lands is to become not only consumers of demining technologies, but also a center for their development and modernization. After all, we also live in a time of opportunities. And this is an opportunity for our young specialists to become leaders in this field around the world,” he noted.

Last year, an interdisciplinary educational program in robotics was opened at KPI, which combines two specialties – automation and applied mechanics. “This is one of the areas that will see priority development at the university. Today, robots perform important civilian functions, but for us now, first of all, these are robotic technologies for defense. You can hear in the media that ground robots are already being used in some areas of the front, and Ukraine was one of the first to use them in combat conditions,” the rector noted.

He also noted that the format of education at the university is currently mixed for security reasons. Lectures are mostly held online, and laboratory classes, practical clasess, especially in engineering specialties, are being held offline.

At the same time, according to him, the university is actively working to expand the number of shelters in dormitories and educational facilities.

The rector also noted that the university is looking for opportunities to update the laboratory base.

As Ukrinform reported, at the beginning of the year, the most in-demand jobs on the labor market were electricians, seamstresses, plumbers, and electric welders.