Prospective Technological Developments of UrFU

15:32, September 17, 2014

Innovative developments of the university will provide competitiveness of Russia in “technological competition”

On September 15 in the press centre of the Ural Branch of ITAR-TASS According to Sergey Kortov, UrFU Vice-Rector for Innovations, high technologies, on which UrFU is focusing nowadays, will help Russia not only substitute import, but will also allow to pass ahead of competitors.

The reason for the meeting with the journalists was the victory of the university scientists in the competition for a large grant, which they will receive within the frames of the federal target program "Research and development on priority directions of scientific-technological complex of Russia for 2014-2020". The result of the project, in the implementation of which the state will invest 300 million rubles within three years, will be the creation of pilot production of rare earth metals (REM). The same amount will be provided by the partners, Moscow company "Energy Technology".

The use of unique technology and the associated extraction of rare-earth metals and scandium from uranium ore will not only produce up to thousands of tons of the metals, which provide the basis of modern electronics, but will also give impetus to the revival of an entire sub-industry of the Russian industry. Russia once was a leader in this field, but in recent years, has completely passed on REM imports from China.

Sergey Kortov noted, that along with metallurgy and production of new materials, which are UrFU traditional areas, the university and the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences focuses on pharmacology. In the beginning of September, clinical test of Triazavirin have successfully ended. The production of Triazavirin will be deployed on the factory "Medsintez" in Novouralsk. The short term plan is to bring to market a number of new drugs, and there will be still about 800 biologically active molecules found by UrFU chemists, on the basis of which can be built entire classes of Russian medicines. It will be a task of university innovative chemical and pharmacological center, the creation of which is almost completed.

Creation of new effective medicines with global patent protection is more important than the establishment production of generics, similar to those medicines, which are being produced by the competitors. to produce absolutely new medicines will take at least five to seven years with the intensive support of the state. But only they can provide both independence of Russia in this area, and a breakthrough in the international market.

The newly established Regional Engineering Center is developing the equipment, which will produce metal powders, the prototype of which is due to be presented in a few months. These powders are required for industrial use in modern additive technology of 3D-printing, especially in the context of the current anti-Russian sanctions by the EU and the United States. The next step is the creation of the Russian industrial 3D-printers. The Center is also engaged in industrial technologies of beam and laser processing of materials.

Sergei Kortov also informed the publicity that the creation of UrFU Cyclotron Nuclear Medicine Center will soon be completed. Radiopharmaceuticals will allow to establish system of radiation detection of cancer and cardiovascular diseases in the Middle Urals. Today, the Ural residents, who can afford such diagnostics, have to pass it outside the region and even in the other countries.

The university focuses on the weak points of the country in the field of high technology in order  to provide not only security, but also to enhance competitiveness in a tough global competition for technological leadership.