The President was accompanied by aides Alexei Dyumin, Nikolai Patrushev, and Andrei Fursenko, Minister of Higher Education and Science Valery Falkov, and St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, while SMTU Rector Gleb Turichin guided them on the tour.
In the main lecture and laboratory building, Vladimir Putin observed the work of the Youth Design Bureau for Electric Shipbuilding, established in 2024 in collaboration with the university’s industrial partner, Emperium. The bureau serves as a platform for young professionals and senior students to develop projects for electric ships that operate without combustible fuel.
Later, the President toured the production and assembly facilities for direct laser growth units at the university’s new research and production building. Between 2022 and 2023, postgraduate students and young engineers achieved full import substitution of all critical components for these systems, supplying major enterprises such as Rosatom, Roscosmos, UEC, as well as gas turbine and transport engineering firms.
The President also toured the university’s martial arts centre, which opened in April this year. The facility comprises locker rooms, boxing and judo halls, a chess room, and a large gym, all designed to host competitive sporting events.
After the event, Presidential Aide Nikolai Patrushev, who also serves as Chairman of the Russian Federation’s Maritime Board, presented the President with the Maritime Board’s medal For Fidelity to the Russian Navy.
St Petersburg State Marine Technical University is one of Russia’s leading technical institutions. As a unique engineering school, it holds the distinction of being the only university in Russia that trains specialists across the full spectrum of shipbuilding disciplines, covering the design and construction of all classes of vessels.