History of the department of "Materials Science and Engineering"
In 1963, the Department of Metal Science and Heat Treatment at the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute enrolled its first cohort of students in the specialty "Metal Science, Equipment, and Technology of Heat Treatment." The developing mechanical engineering industry of the country was in urgent need of metal scientists. By 1968, the first group of Belarusian metal scientists had graduated. Thirty-four graduates were assigned to engineering enterprises, educational institutions, and research organizations across the USSR. The high level of training of these first Belarusian metal scientists laid the foundation for many successful careers in both industry and academia. Nine individuals from this inaugural class defended their doctoral dissertations. Over the years, several graduates have held leadership positions in engineering enterprises throughout the USSR:
The history of the Department of Metal Science and Heat Treatment is closely intertwined with the post-war reconstruction and development of Belarus' national economy. During this period, new sectors of the mechanical engineering, metalworking, and instrument-making industries were established in the republic. Scientific and technical personnel were sent to Belarus from Moscow, Leningrad, Ukraine, the Urals, and other industrially developed regions of the Soviet Union. The Belarusian Polytechnic Institute played a crucial role in addressing the acute shortage of scientific and engineering professionals.
N.F. Margorin
In 1947, the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute established the Department of Metal Technology and Metal Science, initially led by Associate Professor Nikolai Fedorovich Margorin (1883-1961) from 1949 to 1953. Margorin graduated from the Technical School of the Military Department in St. Petersburg in 1906. From 1908 to 1914, he worked at the Obukhov and Putilov factories. During World War I (1914-1917), he served as a battalion commander and was wounded twice. From 1918 to 1925, he worked as a head librarian, section chief at the Belarusian Railway, and a technology instructor at a vocational school in Ruza, Moscow region.
From 1925 to 1938, Margorin was employed at the Kolchugino Plant for Non-Ferrous Metals, actively contributing to the development and production of Kolchugaluminum (a type of duralumin), which was crucial for the aviation industry. His research results were published in the monograph "Non-Ferrous Metals," first issued in 1928 and reprinted in 1932 by Tsvetmetizdat. Margorin continued his academic career at the Kazakh Mining and Metallurgical Institute (Alma-Ata) as a dean and department head (1938-1945), and later at the Penza Industrial Institute as a department head (1945-1949). He defended his Ph.D. dissertation in 1942.
In 1953, the Department of Metal Science was separated from the Department of Metal Technology and Metal Science, with Margorin serving as its head until 1959. In 1954, he was awarded the academic title of professor and received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The first faculty members of this new department included V.I. Belyaev, Yu.I. Ignatova, Yu.S. Lukyanov, N.S. Prosvirov, F.D. Ryazanova, and R.L. Tofpenets. The laboratory was initially managed by war veteran I.A. Rishchev, who later transitioned to a teaching role within the department.
L. S. Lyakhovich
In 1959, Lev Stepanovich Lyakhovich (1919-1990), Ph.D., Associate Professor, became the head of the department. From 1941-1942, Lyakhovich worked as a temperature controller at Plant No. 39 of the Ministry of Aviation Industry and as a foreman at the "Hard Alloys" plant in Moscow. After graduating from the Moscow Aviation Technological Institute in 1944, he served as a researcher and lecturer there. He completed his postgraduate studies and defended his Ph.D. thesis in 1948, and later his doctoral dissertation in 1969. From 1949 to 1959, he worked as an associate professor, head of the Department of Metal Science, and deputy director for academic affairs at the Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute. From 1959 to 1990, he served as the head of the department and vice-rector for academic affairs at the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute.
In 1963, the department was renamed "Metal Science and Thermal Processing of Metals." Over the years, the department attracted several Ph.D. holders, including B.V. Babushkin, E.I. Belsky, V.I. Kravoy, G.M. Levchenko, S.A. Likhachev, Z.S. Ovsyannikova, B.Z. Polyakov, Z.N. Proskurina, R.L. Ryzhkovich, A.V. Stepanenko, R.N. Khudokormova, and engineer Ya.N. Funshtein.
Meeting of the Department of "Metal Science and Heat Treatment of Metals" in 1968
Seated (left to right):
Standing (left to right):
By the early 1970s, the department had emerged as a leading center in the Soviet Union for studying and developing new technological processes to create protective diffusion coatings on metals and alloys. The department was tasked with organizing All-Union scientific conferences on the chemical-thermal treatment of metals and alloys in 1971, 1974, 1977, and 1981. These conferences were major scientific forums that featured active participation from top materials scientists in the USSR and socialist countries, including academicians of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences K.V. Gorev, V.P. Severdeyko, corresponding members of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences M.N. Bodyako, corresponding member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences G.V. Samsonov, professors G.V. Dubinin, Yu.M. Lakhtin, A.N. Minkevich, G.V. Zemskov, M.A. Krishtal, and many others. In 1981, Professor L.S. Lyakhovich was honored with the Order of Friendship of Peoples.
In 1990, alongside metallurgists, the department began training engineers specializing in "Materials Science in Mechanical Engineering" and adopted the new name "Materials Science in Mechanical Engineering." Leading this department from 1990 was the twice laureate of the N.A. Minkevich Prize, Dr. of Tech. Science, Professor Leonid Grigorievich Voroshnin (1936-2006).
Dr. Voroshnin's doctoral dissertation focused on researching a novel chemical-thermal treatment process - electrolytic boriding of steel. The interest in boriding stemmed from its ability to create a surface layer of iron borides with high hardness and wear resistance. This work initiated a series of studies aimed at developing protective diffusion coatings on metals and alloys for various functional purposes (wear-resistant, heat-resistant, corrosion-resistant, cavitation-resistant), bringing recognition to the department not only within the Soviet Union but also internationally.
Leonid G. Voroshnin graduated from the Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute in 1959. From 1959 to 1962, he worked as the head of the laboratory of metallurgy and heat treatment, and as an assistant at the Department of "Metallurgy and Heat Treatment of Metals" at the Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute. In 1962, he entered the graduate school of the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute (now Belarusian National Technical University), where he remained for the rest of his career. He defended his candidate dissertation in 1965 and his doctoral dissertation in 1974.
Fragment from L.G. Voroshnin's Personnel File
