MOSCOW, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A cross-sector industrial prototype center capable of designing and manufacturing a broadest range of sophisticated products will open this fall in Moscow, the center's Director Vladimir Pirozhkov told Xinhua on Friday.
"There are a lot of sophisticated and fascinating projects in this country that need to be carried out, from submarines to spacecraft, so the Russian government made the decision to establish a cross-sector industrial prototype center that will meet the needs of any sector," the director said.
Pirozhkov, an internationally renowned designer, said that the Engineering Prototype Center (EPC) is working to get together a team of top-class specialists with experience in working at leading technology centers abroad, both Russian and foreign.
The center will be located in underground facilities with a total area of about 3,500 square meters, at the National University of Science and Technology MISIS (NUST MISIS), 1 km away from the Kremlin. The project funding volume is about 1 billion rubles (15.4 million U.S. dollars.)
Unlike other prototype centers, which have a sector-specific focus, the EPC can work with any material with the size of the output from one micron to 20 m, according to the director.
Professionals can create an object of any complexity, from a micro-tool to spacecraft, satellite or biorobot for every sector, Pirozhkov said, adding the EPC will seek to implement projects that would be in demand "tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."
The center has 29 pieces of state-of-the-art production equipment and machine tools that can produce small batches of precision components and industrial prototypes that meet modern industrial design standards.
The center's main and most advanced project can be tentatively called Roadless Russia, Pirozhkov said.
As a diversified road network is unlikely to be built in Siberia in the next 50 years due to its harsh climate, the center has decided to design an alternative transport system, which will include a "basic element that has a range and speed like an aircraft and features a vertical takeoff and landing capability like a helicopter."
Another idea the center's experts have is a personal water purification system with pocket devices that can purify water from local sources, Pirozhkov said.
It also plans to train its own specialists. In 2017, a two-year international dual master's degree program called the Technological Special Task Force will open at NUST MISIS.
Under this program, young people from Russia's leading technology universities will be able to receive key competencies in applied innovative high-tech engineering.
During the second year, they will be able to upgrade their competencies at MIT in the United States, Aachen University in Germany, and Milano Politechnico in Italy, with which the EPC is completing partnership negotiations.
The center has also created a technology incubator for children aged six to 12. Training will be provided in areas such as robotics, space technology and biotechnology.
