Politecnico visits Uzbekistan
From 22 to 26 May, an institutional delegation flew to Uzbekistan and was welcomed by the Rector of Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent, Jamshid Inoyatkhodjaev. Poltecnico di Torino representatives joining this mission were the Rector Guido Saracco, Prof. Carla Chiasserini, Rector's Delegate for Alumni and Career Service, Prof. Anita Tabacco, Project Manager for the Uzbekistan project, and Professors Guido Marchetto and Fulvio Rinaudo, Operating Project Manager on site.
The visit aimed at consolidating and expanding PoliTo presence in Uzbekistan, which began in 2009 with the foundation of the Turin Polytechnic University (TTPU) in Tashkent, an Uzbek university established from collaboration between the Polytechnic, UZAVTOSANOAT (Uzbekistan's principal automotive group), General Motors (GM) and the Uzbek Ministry of Higher Education. This project was set up with the purpose of training qualified engineers in Uzbekistan to the same standards as the Polytechnic in Italy, creating a world-class training and research institution to support Uzbekistan's industrial development by building entrepreneurial skills and innovative structures and processes.
At the end of the visit to TTPU, the University delegation was received by the Minister of Education and Innovation of Uzbekistan, Ibrahim Abdurahmanov, the Mayor of the city of Tashkent, Shavkat Umurzokov, and the Chairman of Uzautosanoat, Ulugbek Rozukulov.
Minister Ibrahim Abdurahmanov took the opportunity to show his appreciation for the innovations introduced with the creation of the professional training course at the two sites in Tashkent and Andjian, and with the realisation, in collaboration with the CIM4.0 Competence Centre, of the Uzauto Academy, an initiative aimed at retraining the company's management and production line personnel. He also mentioned, within the initiatives aimed at innovation in the industrial reality of Uzbekistan, the collaboration agreement on the development of technologies for the production and use of hydrogen, an agreement that will be signed during the planned visit to Italy in a few weeks of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. On that occasion, Rector Guido Saracco will take part, together with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in a round table discussion to further explore collaboration between Italy and Uzbekistan.
At the end of the meeting, the Mayor of Tashkent, the former Chairman of the Uzautosanoat company and a profound connoisseur of the skills brought by the Politecnico to Uzbekistan, asked for an assessment of the possibility of extending the University's activities in the field of urban planning, focusing in particular on the use of digitalization systems.
Politecnico’s delegation also met with the Rectors of other Uzbek universities with whom MoUs and agreements were signed to provide for student and lecturer mobility, doctoral student co-tutoring, and scientific collaborations. The meetings were attended by the Rectors: Bakhtiyor Мakhkamov (Tashkent University of Information Technologies), Ercan Kahya (Tashkent University of Architecture and Civil Engineering), Chidem Janbay Turkyilmaz (Samarkand State Architecture and Construction University) and Uktam Salomov (Fergana Polytechnic Institute).
On 24 May, the second Alumni Forum was held. During th event, Politecnico alumni community shared their work experiences with the attending guests, a moment of collective listening that showed a general level of satisfaction among the testimonies collected from former students. The day ended with the Graduation Ceremony, in the presence of Ambassador Agostino Pinna, with the awarding of diplomas to some 120 recent graduates, which ended with the now well-established tradition of throwing touches.
As the last stop of the trip, on 25 and 26 May the Politecnico delegation visited the Samarkand State Architecture and Construction University and the Tashkent University of Information Technologies.