Tetiana Pyvovarova and Yelyzaveta Fedorchenko, students of the Department of Fat and Fermentation Products Technology at the Institute of Education and Science in Chemical Technologies and Engineering» of NTU «KhPI», and Serhii Berezhnyi, a graduate of the Heat Power Engineering speciality at the Institute of Education and Science in Power Engineering, Electronics and Electromechanics have become the winners of the 2nd season of the Open Agro University, an all-Ukrainian educational project that has recently ended. It was launched and conducted by Kernel, one of the world’s leading sunflower oil producers. Kharkiv Polytechnics became the best in the project’s areas of «Process Engineer» (oil production) and «Power Engineer». The competition was held for senior engineering students and recent graduates of Ukrainian higher education institutions. The fundamental knowledge they gained at NTU «KhPI» has allowed them to become part of a community of young professionals of a new formation who are eager to develop and able to achieve goals.
The second season of the «Open Agro University» (OAU) project for training specialists in the agricultural and food industry started at the end of January this year with a large-scale event in Kyiv. The event brought together students of the new enrolment, graduates of the first season, heads of company departments and OAU organizers in a friendly atmosphere. We should note, that the audience of the project included senior engineering students and recent graduates of the first, second and third years. The lecturers, speakers, and mentors of Open Agro University were top managers and heads of Kernel’s departments. Classes consisted of lectures, distance learning courses, and on-the-job training. The winners of the 2023 project shared their impressions of their studies.
Thus, Tetiana Pyvovarova, a student of the Department of Fat and Fermentation Products Technology at NTU «KhPI», studied at Open Agro University in the field of Process Engineer (oil production): «This project helped me meet specialists, learn the oil production process in practice and structure my theoretical knowledge. I advise future OAU students to take an active part in discussing the material with teachers who are managers of modern production, as well as to see the work of the plants with their own eyes. The main thing is not to be afraid to dream and work to achieve your goals!»
Yelyzaveta Fedorchenko, a student of the same department, is convinced that participation in the project gave her the confidence to further develop in the food industry: «I learnt a lot about the work of a modern food processing enterprise, learned to systematize the theoretical knowledge I received at Kharkiv Polytechnic and found great friends! I advise students to gain as much knowledge as possible and be sure to do an internship. This will help to reveal the principles of equipment operation and production in general in the best way. Without such experience, it would have been harder for me to understand the essence of the technologist’s duties at the enterprise and get a job offer before I graduated from university. Now I already have a job offer at one of Kernel’s oil extraction plants.»
Serhii Berezhnyi, a graduate of Heat and Power Engineering, specializing in «Energy Management and Energy Efficienc» at NTU «KhPI», studied at Open Agro University in the field of Energy Engineering. He learned about the project from the group’s curator at Kharkiv Polytechnic. «As a thermal power engineer, I was most interested in classes related to electrical energy, as well as instrumentation and control, which is a lesser-known industry for me. I would especially like to mention the interesting lectures by Yevhen Koshelenko and Ivan Lutsenko. Online meetings with the heads of Kernel’s departments were also valuable. I also gained useful experience on an excursion to the CHP plant of the oil extraction plant in Kropyvnytskyi. In general, the project is a good chance to gain new knowledge and, later, real employment opportunities,» says Serhii.
Last year, Kharkiv Polytechnics also became the winners of the 1st season of the Open Agro University project.
The OAU is currently calling for participants for the third season. The selection will take place by the end of 2023. The training will start in February-March 2024. This project is a unique chance for 3-5 year students and graduates of 2021-2023 majoring in relevant fields to gain practical knowledge and skills that can be immediately applied in real work or during a paid internship. To join the third season of Open Agro University and find out all the details, please follow the link: https://oau.kernel.ua/ .Students of technology, mechanics, power engineering, and instrumentation and control engineering are welcome to apply. The project is free of charge.
Note:
Kernel is the world’s leading and Ukraine’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, a key supplier of agricultural products from the Black Sea region to global markets. The company accounts for about 8% of global oil production and exports its products to more than 80 countries. Since November 2007, Kernel shares have been traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).
Open Agro University is a large-scale project of Kernel to train personnel for agribusiness and the processing industry. Over the past 2 years, despite russia’s war against Ukraine and the constant shelling of infrastructure, Open Agro University has graduated more than 200 specialists, of whom more than 50 have found jobs and are building their careers at Kernel.