In December 2021, it will mark 15 years since the establishment of the branch of BNTU's "Foundry Machines and Technology" department at Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ). The creation of this branch followed years of productive collaboration between the department and the enterprise. The entire history of its inception and evolution is intertwined with the history of MTZ, particularly with the construction of foundry shops and the development of its metallurgical division.
The decision to introduce this specialty and department was made during a meeting of the Ministry of Higher Education of the USSR in September 1954. By then, due to significant efforts post-World War II, Belarus SSR had established a robust industrial complex, including MTZ, MAZ, MZOO (then Sanitary Equipment Plant), MZAL, and the reconstruction of MZOR, along with new plants in Gomel, Mogilev, and Vitebsk. Foundry shops served as crucial supply bases for these burgeoning and operational machine-building, tractor-building, and automotive enterprises. Recognizing the high demand for foundry engineers and the rapid growth of the Belarusian Polytechnic Institute, the decision was made to establish a foundry department under BPI's mechanical faculty, aimed at training mechanical engineers specialized in "Foundry Machines and Technology."
Over the past 65 years, more than 400 graduates from this department have joined MTZ's workforce. Among them are notable figures such as Ivan Ivanovich Kuleshov, a 1960 graduate and State Prize laureate of the USSR, who served as a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1984 to 1989, receiving awards including the Orders of Lenin, October Revolution, Labor Red Banner, and Friendship of Peoples, and who also served as the enterprise's leader from 1982 to 1993. Viktor Andreevich Astapenko, a 1980 graduate and Merited Worker of Industry of the Republic of Belarus, led the steel foundry shop at MTZ from 1988 to 2000 and subsequently served as Director of Production – the First Deputy General Director of MTZ from 2000 to 2012. Over the years, various chief metallurgists have included Vasily Fadeevich Savostov, Vladimir Petrovich Petrovsky, Andrey Nikolaevich Karas, and Vladimir Mikhailovich Gatsuro, along with many other departmental leaders, prominent specialists, technologists, designers, and craftsmen.
Presently, more than 50 graduates of the department are employed at MTZ, including Mikhail V. Osadnik, Deputy General Director for MTS (class of 2006); Vladimir V. Kublitsky, Head of Foundry Shop No. 3 (class of 1988); Andrei M. Nevmerzhitsky, Head of Foundry Shop No. 2 (class of 1999); Mikhail A. Sinitsin, Head of the Precision Casting Department (class of 2002); Ivan A. Fyodorov, Deputy Head of the Model Shop (class of 1988); and Sergey A. Kulikov, Head of the Foundry Laboratory (class of 2006), among others.
At the department's branch, located within MTZ, 3rd and 4th-year students regularly attend classes in disciplines such as "Lifting and Transport Equipment" and "Quality Management and Product Certification". Students in their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years participate annually in industrial and pre-diploma practical training at the enterprise. Additionally, introductory tours of the foundry shops are organized for first and second-year students as part of their educational experience.
4th year students before the start of classes at OJSC MTZ.
Classes on "PTO" in the classroom of OAO MTZ for 3rd year students.
Excursion for students to the foundry shops of JSC "MTW".
Head Chair "MiTLP" S.L. Rovin
