Just seven days separate the beginning and end of the week, but so much can be packed in between. Continue scrolling through the Polytechnic University calendar.
May 11
May 2023 marked a new honorary award for BNTU Rector Sergey Kharitonchik. During a visit to Tashkent State Transport University, Sergey Kharitonchik and Pavel Shirvel, Dean of the Faculty of International Cooperation, discussed the implementation of joint educational programs, the admissions plan for the new academic year, and prospects for scientific and methodological cooperation with representatives of the Uzbek university. Following the official negotiations, Abdulaziz Gulamov, Vice-Rector of Tashkent State Transport University, presented the BNTU Rector with an Honorary Professor's Diploma for his outstanding contribution to the development of education and comprehensive support for scientific and academic exchanges. This is not the first such recognition: BNTU's international prestige grows year after year.
May 12
In May 2020, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Great Stone China-Belarus Industrial Park to mark the future construction of the SINOMACH "Fakel" park. The date was chosen deliberately: five years earlier, on this day, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping visited the park site, launching the project, destined to become the "pearl of the Silk Road Economic Belt."
BNTU Rector Sergei Kharitonchik participated in the groundbreaking ceremony. "Fakel" park is conceived as a platform for high-tech projects based on innovations from both countries, and its creation marked new horizons for cooperation with BNTU, primarily in the area of training engineering personnel with knowledge of Chinese technical languages.
On the same May day, but three years later, in 2023, the architectural composition "Stsyag Rodzimy" (Red Flag) was ceremoniously unveiled on Dzerzhinskaya Mountain, the highest point in Belarus. The project was designed by Armen Sardarov, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at BNTU. Work on the composition had begun a year and a half earlier: students from the faculty were involved in discussing ideas, and Sardarov himself made a special visit to the mountain to soak in the spirit of the place.
The result was a stainless steel pedestal crowned with a spiral-shaped banner. "I wanted this to be a message to our youth. So that they would understand: there is nothing more precious than their native land," the designer said at the opening ceremony. Armen Sardarov is also known for other landmark projects: "Kilometer Zero" in Minsk, "To Belarusians Abroad," the monument to Antoni Tyzenhaus in Postavy, and others.
May 13
May 2022 brought a new sporting tradition to students in three dormitories on Borisovsky Trakt. For the first time, BNTU hosted the BATTLE OF SIX tournament – a "Cup of Six" – representing the faculties whose students reside in dormitories No. 15, 16, and 17: the Faculty of Applied Physics, the Faculty of Applied Physics, the Faculty of Applied Mathematics, and the Faculty of Applied Mathematics.
The tournament was opened by Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Oleg Gusev, emphasizing that its very existence symbolized the active sports life in the dormitories. Participants competed in six disciplines: running, football, volleyball, basketball, tug-of-war, and the GTO (Ready for Labor and Defense) test. The volleyball final between the teams of the Faculty of Technical Culture and the Faculty of Sports was particularly exciting. The FTK athletes emerged victorious in the overall standings, capturing the challenge cup.
May 14
On this day in 2023, the country held its first centralized exam, and BNTU became the largest host: over three thousand eleventh-grade students took exams in Belarusian and Russian in four university buildings. Two more buildings were designated as waiting areas for accompanying teachers.
On the eve of the exam, BNTU trained organizers, prepared classrooms, and created the most comfortable conditions possible, drawing on the experience gained during rehearsal trials. The exam was overseen by a special commission headed by Irina Starovoitova, Chairperson of the Standing Commission of the Council of the Republic on Education, Science, Culture, and Social Development, who, along with Rector Sergei Kharitonchik, toured the buildings and spoke with the participants. The exam proceeded as planned, and the eleventh-graders themselves noted that the new format allowed them to focus on preparing for their core subjects, reducing some of the workload.
May 16
In the spring of 1973, a new chapter in the university's history began: the foundation of BNTU's eleventh academic building was laid. Today, this building is the alma mater of the Faculty of Information Technology and Robotics. The building has long been an integral part of the Polytechnic's identity, and its assembly hall has become one of the university's main creative centers: it hosts concerts, festivals, and special events, bringing together BNTU students and residents of the Sovietsky District and the city of Minsk.
Seven days – seven reasons to see for yourself how vibrant our Polytechnic's history is.
