Russian students get under the bonnet
A GROUP of engineering students from a Russian university have accelerated their learning after linking up with Havering College.
A party of 16 students and two lecturers from the Moscow State Automobile and Road Technical University (MADI) came to Havering for two weeks of intensive practical lessons in the vehicle workshops of the college’s Ardleigh Green Campus in Hornchurch.
The students are at various stages of a five year degree programme run by Russia’s leading university for the study of engineering. Their course is academic in nature but the project with Havering College equips the under-graduates with real experience of the nuts and bolts of car mechanics.
Although the students were accompanied by their lecturer Dr Victor Egorov the workshop lessons were entirely led by Havering College staff Lee Bradford, Ian Edwards and James Barker.
During their stay the group also visited Avon Coaches and the BMW Mini factory in Oxford. The students have been staying with host families in the Havering area.
Student Inna Kurichina, 19, said: “I have really enjoyed the practical training in the workshops at Havering College. I want to be an engineer and hope to have my own business.”
It was a return visit for fellow student Kirill Egorov who took part in the Havering College programme last year.
The 20-year-old said: “It has been a really good experience to be taught in English.”
Dr Egorov, a professor in automotive engineering at MADI, said: “It has been an invaluable experience for the students. They have gained extra skills and knowledge of practical systems and visited two very interesting enterprises. Staying with families means the students also practise and improve their English.”
ENDS
