Νew Technologies and Innovation Development in Russia

Big news

Rusnano and Crocus Technologies co developed a company called "Daughter" that first phase of construction was launched on a new facility to build MRAM (Magnetoresistive) memory build with 90nm technology, first in the world. The plant will produce by 2014, around 500 Wafers per week at 200 - 300mm wafer CMOS technology, and it will employ around 100 specialists.

The co development is between Rusnano and Crocus Technologies. The investment was 10B rubels with which Rusnano invested 4.4 B of it.

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/42954/&usg=ALkJrhiIJaNe7FB1DoKFsNy_WnBJTe5GLQ

Looks very promising and innovative .....something along the lines Russia need to develop in decades ahead.

I always wondered why Russia could not come with a Samsung or an Apple of the world ....hopefully we might see that in years ahead.

Probably not. Market is too over saturated. Closest would be Sitronics as they are the biggest and their products can be found in most developed countries.

This though, if developed enough, will find itself in a lot of military and space equipment, as MRAM would be less susceptible than regular circits in heavy magnetic fields.

If lets say that sitronics owned MCST, Elvees and this company, as well as any other company that deals with making things like fridges, sound systems, ect then they could be like samsung. But companies that do deal in that are all pretty small or medium sized in Russia, or state owned. Having such a large corporation like that my not be the best due to lack of domestic competition. As well, only so much money can be gained via taxes for the state.

Maybe other company could be GS Group as well, since they own the private tech cluster technopolis GS in Kaliningrad.

It would be nice to see MCST be merged with elvees instead as both would mean more financing and both deal with microprocessor technologies, elvees dealing with RISC and its neuromatrix while MCST has Elbrus line of SPARC and x86. MCST uses elvees dsp cores, so why not merge two of them as elvees has more money and could have much larger market share.

It is mentioned in link pertaining to the link I shared about moving to 65nm tech and producing at least 1000 a week after 2014.

Skolkovo launches Hydrocarbon Center for education and R&D

Skoltech, Skolkovo’s university of education and technology, has launched its second Center for Science, Innovation and Education to focus on advanced hydrocarbon exploration and production technologies, the Skolkovo Foundation website announced.

A classic example of private-public partnership, the Center will focus on a variety of segments, including hydrocarbon exploration and production; geothermal energy; and carbon dioxide sequestration aimed at isolating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reducing the greenhouse effect. The Center will be expected to meet specific technology needs that Russian oil and gas producers have.

Bad News
Russian prosecutors report $4bn embezzlement in Skolkovo

The Attorney General’s Office of Russia has discovered new embezzlement cases in the operation of the Skolkovo Foundation, RBC daily reported, citing a source in the Office.

The prosecutors who have conducted a thorough investigation indicate multiple cases of “unrestricted spending” and a “lack of diligence” in the work of some executives at the foundation that runs the development and operation of Skolkovo, Russia’s government-sponsored innovation hub just outside Moscow.

“The Skolkovo Foundation management has failed to ensure proper supervision of the ‘innovation city’ development project, which has resulted in unrestricted and way too excessive squandering of funds to the detriment of the state,” the Attorney General’s Office pointed out.

The prosecutors estimate that unwarranted spending, including new large-scale embezzlement, has cost Russia’s federal coffers an astronomical $4bn.

They need to sack almost everyone in charge of Skolkovo and look elsewhere for others to help in the project. Technopolis GS is completely private and had no issues whatsoever. This project on the other hand, as good as some came out of it, there is a lot of theft.

Siberian mobile interfaces win hearts of BIT contest jury

Appercode, a project developed by a resident of Novosibirsk’s Academpark in Siberia, was pronounced the winner of te federal BIT tech project competition. The news came last week during Moscow’s international Open Innovations forum, the Academpark website announced.

Appercode has developed a platform to create mobile apps interfaces, which is said to enable a three-to-five time reduction of the time and cost of developing such interfaces for the iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Windows 8 powered devices without any loss in their quality. The project is reported to have outshone more than 1,500 other contenders for the first prize from 80 cities of Russia and the former Soviet Union.

[url= http://marchmontnews.com/Technology-Innovation/Urals/20262-Extreme-North-region-encourages-local-innovation.html]Extreme North region encourages local innovation[/url]

A reported 64 projects have applied for participation in an innovation project competition being held by the authorities of the Yamal-Nenets region in Northwest Siberia, Alliance-Media reported.

Most applications reportedly came from the IT and tourism sectors (13 and nine projects, respectively).

In addition, regional innovators are seeking government support in pushing their projects in food and light industries, ecology, energy saving and alternative energy, public utilities, housing construction in the Extreme North conditions, transportation, and road building.

Next gen fiber optic probe developed and manufactured in Urals

Alexander Korsakov, a young scientist at Ural Federal University (UrFU) in Yekaterinburg, has been awarded this year’s Russian Youth Prize for Nanotechnology for the development of brand new fiber optic probes for infrared interferometer spectrometers, the UrFU press service announced.

Developed just recently, the new probes have already been put into production at UrFU’s Innovation Infrared Fiber Technologies Center.

In Siberia, eco-friendly coal burning cuts costs and boosts efficiency

An automated eco-friendly and energy-efficient coal burning project, developed by EcoEnergia in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk, has got to the top of the new Russian Startup Rating (RSR), the KRITBI innovation business incubator announced. EcoEnergia is a resident of this Krasnoyarsk-based incubator.

The project has been given a ranking of AA-90, which means “high probability of success.”

All projects, screened in accordance with a special RSR methodology, fell into three categories: new materials and equipment (High-Tech), biotechnology and medicine (BioMed), and IT, including Internet and mobile start-ups.

EcoEnergia ranked among the leaders in the High-Tech category. Its project aims to create an automated system that pre-treats and helps burn at thermal power stations the coals of the Kansk-Achinsk Coal Basin in Siberia.

By 2023, Ulyanovsk Nanotech Center to launch 96 new start-ups

Over the next ten years the Ulyanovsk Nanotech Center in the mid-Volga area wants to launch as many as 96 new start-ups generating about $1.4bn in aggregate revenue, Alliance-Media reported, citing a statement by Governor Sergei Morozov of the Ulyanovsk region.

The governor announced the plans during the Open Innovations international forum that was held last week in Moscow.

Young Ulyanovsk Nanotech Center nurtures 30 high-tech projects

The recently launched Ulyanovsk Nanotech Center in the mid-Volga area is supporting about 30 high-tech projects, regional news agency Media 73.ru reported.

According to Andrei Redkin, the CEO of the Center, an overall investment the company has raised so far is already twice the amount the Ulyanovsk region once paid to build the Center.

The region allocated about $6m. The overall tab for the project ran up to almost $40m, with Rusnano, Russia’s nanotech giant, providing most of the funds.

St. Pete and Silicon Valley scientists keen to retire silicon in electronics

Scientists from St. Petersburg and Silicon Valley are collaborating to grow super-thin nanodiamond film to be used in new generation electronics, the Vesti TV website reported.

The research is being conducted on the premises of St. Petersburg State Electrical Engineering University, a leading educational and R&D hub bearing the historical abbreviation of LETI. Based on microscopic films and nanodiamonds, which the scientists grow right in their labs, the team wants to lay the foundation for brand new computers and mobile phones.

Sberbank to boost innovation in Kaluga’s agriculture

Sberinvest, an investment arm of Sberbank, Russia’s largest savings bank, has unveiled plans to assist the Kaluga region in Central Russia in developing its innovation bioindustry segment in agriculture. An agreement has been reached between the company and the region’s agricultural authorities, Sberinvest announced.

Russia disburses another $60m for another four regional high-tech parks

Four more Russian regions will receive over $60m in federal co-funding by the end of next year to build their own high-technology techno-parks, as Russia’s eight-year techno-park funding program continues, the Russian Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications announced last week following the completion of its open tender for Russia’s regions.

This time, the winning regions include Moscow, the Sverdlovsk and Penza regions (in the Urals and in Central Russia, respectively), and the Republic of Mordovia in the mid-Volga area.

Bad News and Good News:
Rusnano shuts down its Nitol poly-Si project in Siberia

Rusnano, Russia’s largest nanotech company, has shut down Nitol, its poly-Si production project in the Irkutsk region in Siberia which has brought multibillion ruble loss, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported.

According to Anatoly Chubais, the president of Rusnano, Rusnano’s decision to close the Nitol project in the town of Usolye Sibirskoye has been backed by the Russian Government.

However, Rusnano will continue to tap into renewable energy technologies and is expected to launch a new project in Usolye to manufacture components for solar generation equipment. This will be a focus on much deeper processing rather than just making raw material which Nitol did, Mr. Chubais said.

The decision to start a new endeavor stems from the Russian Government’s recently adopted seven-year strategy aimed at supporting renewable energy in this country. The $230m effort is expected to have an IRR of 31%, Rusnano reckons.

@ Austin

This is what I was getting at when saying that even if Russia started up a company late doing something that half the world does already, then it will not be profitable and would end up dead. This above is an example of it. They were developing polisilicon and nothing else. At the time it was inducted, silicon prices were up. Now they are so far down, that is was not profitable to keep the business and such, it was shut down. Now they are building a new plant in its place to produce solar power modules and alike, so an actual end product other than just the silicon. It was a smart move by Rusnano to shut this plant down, as it was not profitable (so a drain), and they could build something else instead in its place (in this case, many who lost their jobs will end up getting a new job in the proposed new plant). And as mentioned in the news above this post, St. Pete and Silicon Valley scientists are working on an alternative to silicon for technology development. So it would probably be in Russia's best interest to further look into that and get involved in building a plant that can actually produce the alternative stuff, and this could lead Russia in the semiconductor industry. Not rehashing the same things. People would be interested in purchasing Russian semiconductors that do not require silicon.

flamming_python wrote:L0L

$4 billion? Not bad, not a bad heist they pulled off at all.

Somehow, I had my doubts that this sort of highway robbery was still possible in Russia today; for a project with so many international connections and investors, and with such a high-profile, aiming to show the 'new Russia'. Hell, Medvedev even took the trouble to appoint one of Russia's richest men to head it, Viktor Vekselberg, undoubtedly under the logic that since he already has so much money he wouldn't bother trying to steal a bit more.

Well I see I've been proved wrong.

I guess what's encouraging, is that it's been uncovered, and the guilty parties (at least some of them), will be punished.

Hopefully the money will end up back in Skolkovo somehow. That, and the arrest of the responsible may send a message out. Although, it seems the other technoparks in Russia are doing better at getting developed then Skolkovo is. Technopolis GS, there is Technopolis in Moscow, etc, and none of them have even remotely the amount of problems regarding corruption than Skolkovo, which is two for this technopark.

Well Vekselberg never had perfect reputation.

It seems that private technoparks are the way to go. Instead of finding ways how to spend federal funds private technoparks try to work with business and get private investors

Inter RAO, Russian energy major, introduces innovation to cut its costs

Inter RAO, one of Russia’s leading electrical energy companies with a broad international presence, announced last week that it is developing innovation technologies to cut its operation costs.

On the premises of the Kostroma Heat and Power Station in Central Russia, the energy giant has launched its innovation start-up called “Inter RAO – Coating Application Center.” This is the first project brought to fruition by Energy Without Borders, an R&D fund set up by Inter RAO back in 2011.

Nanoceramics technologies mastered in Siberia’s Omsk

Sibtochmash, an industrial developer in Omsk, in Siberia, is pushing its technology to manufacture nanoceramics-based parts of any complexity, portal Innovanews.ru reported.

Using their new proprietary method is said to enable the processing of ceramics, a fairly fragile material, into a nanomodified material strong enough to be used even in the defense sector.

For example, the Siberian company manufactures turbine blade rods, a kind of product that has never before been made from ceramics.

Igor Zinkin, the CEO of Sibtochmash, has strong faith in ceramics as a material of the future to be eagerly sought in the market.

The company is also developing a 3D printer to work with ceramics; the printer is currently being tested.

Russia moves to integrate Siberian radio electronics assets in new cluster

Roselectronica, the federal umbrella company for Russia’s radio electronics manufacturers, is setting up Electronica-Siberia, an R&D and production cluster bringing together four Siberian assets, Roselectronica announced.

The new cluster will feature three Novosibirsk-based radio electronics companies, including NPO Vostok, the Oksid radio component factory and the semiconductor instrument maker, as well as the Research Institute of Semiconductor Instruments in the neighboring city of Tomsk.

The three Novosibirsk assets will be integrated on one industrial platform, for which a new production complex is being built in the region, and the existing facilities are being revamped.

Renova subsidiary and Novosibirsk nanotech center team up for carbon material R&D

Energoprom, a sizable Russian industrial group which is part of international Renova Group run by Viktor Vekselberg, has agreed with SIGMA.Novosibirsk, a new nanotech center in Siberia, on joint implementation of new carbon material development projects, Delovoy Kvartal – Novosibirsk reported last week.

In addition, the partners are reportedly in talks over the setup of an engineering company that would focus on Energoprom’s main R&D areas, including the development of anode material for lithium-ion storage batteries, new graphite/carbon components for aerial contact wires used by electric public transport, large siliconized graphites for nuclear energy and metallurgic projects, and others.

Mordovia to pioneer Russia’s solar component production

A new high tech production line is being set up in Mordovia’s city of Saransk, in the mid-Volga area, to manufacture polycrystalline silicon, silicon wafers, photocells and solar modules for solar energy projects, the official website of the Mordovia government announced.

The new line will be launched on the premises of Electrovypryamitel, a local factory in Saransk.

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As well, in the news, Rusnano is contemplating opening up 2 - 3 more Nanotech centres if the three that are already set up show progress in effectiveness (in other words, if it is profitable). It seems in the last news above, they could very well end up being good, as Energoprom is massive and such contracts and deals would be good for the overall economy. It costs about $45M to open up one cluster, which is a lot. Rusnano should play smart though, as they already invested for 11 for such facilities in the country. Hopefully they will also open up facilities to be able to produce end goods besides just R&D.

Italy's Oil company is opening an office in Skolkovo

http://marchmontnews.com/Finance-Business/Central-regions/20329-Italian-oil-and-gas-giant-Eni-its-way-Russias-Skolkovo.html

Very nice   

Effective oil extraction: laser instead of drill

Skolkovo resident company upgrades Samsung manufacturing in Russia

The Samsung manufacturing plant outside of Kaluga, is getting overahuled with automation by a Skolkovo resident company by the name of RoboCV

Turkish Investors

Turkish Investors are looking to set up shop in Ulaynovsk

A 'Skolkovo' like park near St.Petersburg

So it appears that construction was approved to build a Innovation Park like Skolkovo outside of St.Petersburg. The field of development will be aimed at Nanotechnologies and Advanced utilities, with it being held by Rusnano.

Putin Calls for Overhaul of Key Investment Organizations

Skolkovo Innovation Fund, Rusnano and RVC are called out to move its aim back to its original purpose: To invest in R&D of high technologies to diversified economy. It is mentioned that many of the investments may be good enough; however, they are not following their initial purpose of as to why they were created.

My own views: Rusnano is proving to be very useful for Russia as out of their 300+ projects, only 22 of them have been unsuccessful, which is much better track record than some institutes in US during Obama's first term. Issue is, a lot of the investments where aimed at producing things already created (at least its done in Russia), or co-investing in US projects. Chubias said, and it has been known, that Rusnano can actually take care of itself as it does not need funds from Gov. I seriously think of just letting Rusnano go in its own direction, and use money gained from it (privatize Rusnano) and open up another venture organization aimed at what Rusnano was original purpose was. As well, there are too many different venture funds for same thing. Consolidate them into one. The more sub-organizations, more the system can be abused.

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Tatarstan to host production of Russian- Saudi JV of Glass Reinforced Plastic Pipes

Tatarstan in the mid-Volga area may expect a new Russo-Saudi project over the next two years, aimed at developing Russian-based production of world-class glass reinforced plastic pipes, announced Compozit, a Russian developer and manufacturer of composite material based products and the Russian partner in the international project.

Zelenograd 3D Printer Company - Any consumer can become producer

And for good reasons too. As 3D printing is becoming more popular, the Russian company in Zelenograd who recently put for sale their Picaso 3D printer, believes that any consumer will be able to become a producers.

My own View: At one point, in Japan, it was common for households having some capability to produce plastic materials as the technology got smaller, and many companies (big and small) would purchase from the common man with such equipment in their basement, and that can be profitable for many. This 3D printer in Russia will make the company wealthy and many people wealthy as well, as it will make manufacturing significantly easier. I will be interested to see if they will build one for sale in industrial use, much larger, with more refined Resin. Lets see if Rusnano will start up a company for production of Resin based off of nanotechnologies.
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In Tyumen, Local Technopark Resident creates Artificial brain

Scientists in Tyumen, in Northwest Siberia, are developing “an artificial brain.” The actual implementer of the project is TASO, a resident of the local high technology park, announced the official website of Tyumen State University, the parent organization for TASO.

TASO is a high-tech developer of artificial cognitive systems. It was set up two years ago by a team of neural networks and software developers associated with Tyumen State University.

The company hopes to create a brand new class of artificial cognitive systems that it refers to as “TASO NeuroLEGO.” This is expected to become an engineering system capable of learning new knowledge, recognizing images, analyzing information it receives, and ultimately having the ability to ‘

6.7 bin $ for Roselektronika alone by 2020 - Huge investment to make Russia has full up to date electronic production and development.

"holding "Roselektronika" plans until 2020 to invest in the innovative development of its member companies more 219 billion rubles. The program provides for research and development, technological modernization, including modernization, energy efficiency and cleaner production and productivity, as well as the formation of innovation infrastructure and staff training. Almost 90 billion rubles, or 41% of the funds will be focused on the development, production and promotion of high-tech civilian products.Costs will be covered by equity holding from operating activities. These funds will be used to design and manufacture ECB, microwave electronics and materials, systems and communications and automated systems for special purposes, industrial electronics, information and communications solutions, security systems, medical and scanning microwave equipment"


LINK

Putin wants policy makers to allow for Russian science’s competitive advantages

President Vladimir Putin of Russia wants the Russian Government to consider changing the very principle of funding scientific research. His decree was published on January 15 on the Kremlin website among other presidential statements made in the wake of the December 20, 2013 meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Science and Education.

“For the purposes of optimizing the use of budgetary funds” the Russian Cabinet is now expected to develop a mechanism of financing fundamental research primarily through targeted budgetary grants rather than funds allocated for broad national programs, according to the decree.

In addition, Mr. Putin wants the Cabinet and the Russian Academy of Sciences to develop, by May 1, suggestions for a program of increasing salaries for scientists who “have achieved exceptional results in their research.”

Also, the Russian Ministry of Science and Education is expected to develop mechanisms of government support for Russia’s scientific journals.

Good to hear. This will really push scientists to be more competitive as well as successful in their research, rather than the useless research that comes out all the time.

Moscow nanopowder for antibacterial textile and spasers

Scientists at the Moscow-based Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI) have developed a device to get nanopowder from metal oxides and carbon, a material useful in a range of sectors, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

A research team led by Dr. Mishik Kazarian is said to have designed and made an operational prototype of a system enabling acoustoplasma discharge in liquids, which is a powerful electrical discharge that alters the properties of plasma when acted upon by some external ultrasound ‘irradiation,’ thus causing an increased rate of particle transfer in electrodes.

DisplAir ditches airborne display production idea, opts for technology licensing

DisplAir, the inventor of an interactive airborne display with full-scale multi-touch support based in Astrakhan, in the Lower Volga, has decided to scrap its old display production strategy and move to licensing its own technologies to other companies, innovation news portal Venture Business News reported.

As was aired most recently, an unaffordable level of expenses required to set up shop has prompted the Astrakhan developer to opt for an effort to improve the technology and start licensing it for use by other companies in their consumer products. In this new strategy, DisplAir is closing its office in Astrakhan, leaving only its R&D department to go on with the project.

“The board of directors fully supports the company’s new strategy and is ready to render as much assistance as needed to keep it going,” said Alexander Chachava, a managing partner at LETA Capital, a Russian VC fund, and board member at DisplAir.

Not surprising. Now days it is hard for a new company to just start in building something new and advanced, without having an actual product that is able to be produced in numbers. Investments will run dry eventually. Good to hear that they are moving to licensing out the technology though. Will help with the bills.

Sputniks launches control complex for private microsatellites in downtown Moscow

Sputniks (Satellite Innovation Space Systems), a private Russian aerospace systems developer and resident of Skolkovo’s space and IT cluster, has launched in Moscow its ground-based data reception and microsatellite control complex. At the moment, the complex is being tested when receiving signals from third-party satellites, the Skolkovo Foundation website reported.

Tomsk Polytechnic launches web-based catalog of innovation solutions

Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) in Siberia announced last week the launch of its new web-based catalog, inno.tpu.ru, describing the university’s best innovation projects and providing contact information about the developers. This is a bilingual website, with all the main project data fully available in English as well.

As of today, the new website highlights about a hundred projects in various fields, and the list will be updated and augmented on a regular basis, TPU promises.

The catalog contains what TPU considers its scientists’ most advanced innovation solutions. They are structured and featured using a user-friendly interface.

Each solution page on the website has visualization functionality and offers a concise, yet fairly exhaustive summary explaining what goals the project pursues, what technical characteristics and specific competitive advantages are, and what the current status of project development is.

Using sophisticated interactive functionality one can contact the developers of each of the projects listed. Customers, both current and potential, can not only familiarize themselves with existing projects but also fill out an online form to request research that they specifically need.

The solutions listed on the new website cover eight research areas, including biotechnology and medical instruments; rational use of natural resources; IT and instrument making; surface modification and new materials; nondestructive inspection; water purification; energy and energy saving; and mechanical engineering.

In addition, inno.tpu.ru offers users TPU’s plans for participation in technology exhibitions and contact information for TPU spin-off companies, and also enables people to establish business relationships with the Siberian university’s leading scientists.

The TPU department behind the initiative is its Tech Transfer Center, an intermediary between university developers and potential customers.

According to the Tech Transfer Center, the new website is pursuing a dual goal of promoting TPU researchers’ products across the globe and also helping the developers themselves. TPU scientists can tap into the opportunities that inno.tpu.ru offers to get help in pushing their projects, doing marketing studies, and developing their innovation businesses.

More universities need to do this in order to get more support from the public/private sector. More transparency, more information on the technologies they are developing, and thus possible easier access for companies to acquire license to build that technology.

T-Platform redeemed

for the joy of our hi-tech experts!  

http://expert.ru/expert/2014/04/russkie-vse-taki-idut/

Kudos to the american agencies in that case!

zino wrote:T-Platform redeemed

for the joy of our hi-tech experts!  

http://expert.ru/expert/2014/04/russkie-vse-taki-idut/

Kudos to the american agencies in that case!

Very interesting, from what i have been able to make out of the rough google translation it seems that the company plans to fight to the end.

This quote summarized the article nicely.

Regardless of the reasons that led to the inclusion of "T-Platforms" in the U.S. blacklist, it is clear that the preservation of our industry and depending on the goodwill of Defense Americans and their allies makes our technological sovereignty quite arbitrary. This dependence exists in almost all sectors of industry innovation - from machine tools to microelectronic chips. And this dependence should be overcome.

Although this quote is interesting to.

the most critical technologies should be developed within the country."

Not sure which country, but i am hoping it's Russia.

I've mentioned this before, and i find Russia's development in the area of computer electronics to be abysmal, at least when it comes to the civil industry, where is Russia's Intel, Nvidia or AMD, i know MCST Elbrus is around, but i just don't see them making much of an effort to compete with the big players, i mean hell even there own military has started importing toughbooks and such from abroad and in a number of cases even using Windows systems for them, listen i am not saying that Russia should produce everything locally, but not being able to produce your own computer equipment indigenously would in the near future lead to the countries demise.

Overall i hope Russia doesn't miss the train this time as we begin transitioning from digital to quantum computing.

AlfaT8 wrote:

zino wrote:T-Platform redeemed

for the joy of our hi-tech experts!  

http://expert.ru/expert/2014/04/russkie-vse-taki-idut/

Kudos to the american agencies in that case!

Very interesting, from what i have been able to make out of the rough google translation it seems that the company plans to fight to the end.

This quote summarized the article nicely.

Regardless of the reasons that led to the inclusion of "T-Platforms" in the U.S. blacklist, it is clear that the preservation of our industry and depending on the goodwill of Defense Americans and their allies makes our technological sovereignty quite arbitrary. This dependence exists in almost all sectors of industry innovation - from machine tools to microelectronic chips. And this dependence should be overcome.    

Although this quote is interesting to.

the most critical technologies should be developed within the country."

Not sure which country, but i am hoping it's Russia.

I've mentioned this before, and i find Russia's development in the area of computer electronics to be abysmal, at least when it comes to the civil industry, where is Russia's Intel, Nvidia or AMD, i know MCST Elbrus is around, but i just don't see them making much of an effort to compete with the big players, i mean hell even there own military has started importing toughbooks and such from abroad and in a number of cases even using Windows systems for them, listen i am not saying that Russia should produce everything locally, but not being able to produce your own computer equipment indigenously would in the near future lead to the countries demise.

Overall i hope Russia doesn't miss the train this time as we begin transitioning from digital to quantum computing.

Depends on where you are getting your information from.  Which toughbooks and what branches of army?  MSMS is a military OS (which looks like Windows OS but it is linux) as well, the toughbooks I have seen has been linked directly to the Israeli drones being produced in Russia.  Reason why you see it as abysmal, is probably because you do not pay enough attention or not looking hard enough.  One does not just create a new processor over night.  Oracle just released the M6 after years of development.  Big deal since that Oracle has not produced a processor in quite some time.  They have more finances than MCST.  MCST on the other hand has released the R-1000 and Elbrus 2C+ in the last couple of years.  This year we will see 4C+ and next year or two 8C+.

what I find hilarious is that Fujitsu made a, top 500, super computer (HTC system) using their own SPARC processor, under the same version (v9) as what Elbrus produces in R line.  Problem is, focus has shifted from RISC to CISC and as much as that can be good for long run, it has stunted their development of the RISC chip, which is quite important in its own.  Fujitsu actually uses Russia's NeuroMatrix core in their ARM processor.  Quite impressive technology actually.  Problem they have is that lack of funding so development is taking longer, and well, Angsterm isnt ready for high rate production of lower topology processors.  It was only last year or two that the Ministry of Industry and trade has wanted a new processor and only now funding is finding its way.  Khathi over at MP.net mentioned that he tried out the MCST/Kraftway Monocube and was quite impressed.

Driverless rock haulers to become Russia’s reality by 2017—Acad. Trubetskoi

Robotized mining machinery will become a Russian reality in 2017 already, claimed Kliment Trubetskoi, a Russian academician and the mastermind behind the Smart Quarry project. The Skolkovo Foundation website quoted him as saying that last week at a ceremony, receiving the Demidov Prize, one of Russia’s most respected awards in R&D and industry.

The Smart Quarry project calls for the full automation and robotization of Russia’s mining sector.

The effort was supported in the summer of 2013 with a $600,000+ grant from the Skolkovo Foundation. The recipient of the grant was VIST Mining Technology, a resident of Skolkovo’s IT cluster developing Mr. Trubetskoi’s idea into an actual business project.

According to Dmitry Klebanov, VIST’s director for development, the company added to the grant its own funds to finance the further development of its IT-enabled driverless rock haulers and remotely controlled handling machinery for open-cast mines.

In early May 2013, the company announced the completion of a series of successful testing of VIST’s first self-contained BelAZ truck robot.

VIST’s R&D plans include the development and testing of the beta version of its special software. The Skolkovo resident is also expected to continue the development of methodology and special software for the servicing of self-contained machinery and the creation of mathematical algorithms for automating an excavator and boring rig’s operation.

Longer-term plans include partnerships in developing safety rules for companies running self-contained machinery in mining.

If this happens, I can imagine Russia becoming a major exporter of its heavy industrial equipment like mining. Already, it is growing. This will give it an edge.

IT Village envisioned in Volga region

The Penza regional government in the mid-Volga area is expecting to launch by this coming September what the administration refers to as “IT Village,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing Governor Vasily Bochkaryov of Penza.

The IT Village has been announced as an advanced information technology college for senior high school students to open on the premises of the region’s boarding school-lyceum for gifted children. As the project unfolds, the future college will have both IT and biotechnology to focus on, Governor Bochkaryov thinks.

“We may get a plus to our image by both helping kids develop their talent and promoting software products to be used in our construction, industries, and agriculture,” he said.

According to the governor, the IT Village project will encourage the setup of small innovation companies. Longer-term plans are to admit gifted children from other regions to the college as well.

Understandable that many regions are going to jump on the IT field as it is one of the fastest growing fields in Russia, making them third in the world for IT development. This will further boost the field.

New use of wind and sun in Siberia: outdoor mobile phone charger unveiled

Scientists in Irkutsk, in Siberia, have come up with a device that enables people to charge their cell phones and other mobile gadgets when walking on the city streets, the Skolkovo Foundation website reported.

The device called AeroGreen has been developed at a local company, Aeroenergotech, and Yuri Kriulin, one of the alumni of Irkutsk State Technical University (ISTU) is reported to have been the key inspirer behind the effort.

It is a wind-solar unit capable of collecting solar and wind energy and transmitting it by wire into mobile phones, tablets, or laptops. Power in your phone is off suddenly, but you need to make an urgent call? The AeroGreen is expected to help you within minutes, and you won’t have to pay for that, the developer claims.

Pretty interesting stuff.

New boson laser developed in St. Petersburg

A team of researchers at St. Petersburg State University (SPSU) has developed what is believed to be an advanced new laser, Popnano.ru reported.

It is said to be what’s called a boson cascade laser, developed at SPSU’s optics laboratory led by Alexey Kavokin.

The laser is expected to have a broad range of applications. For example, it could be used to help treat skin cancer or guard areas against robbers or terrorists.

Government fund RVC supports tech entrepreneurship in West Urals

The RVC Infrafund has teamed up with a group of yet-undisclosed private investors to jointly finance the setup of the Digital Port Tech Entrepreneurship Center in the city of Perm in the West Urals, East-West Digital News, the first all English-language online resource dedicated to Russian digital industries, reported earlier this week, citing the official RVC website.

The 2000-sq. meter facility is expected to offer young local innovative teams and startups both office space and a range of services to support the development of high tech businesses, such as IT outsourcing, training programs in technology entrepreneurship, marketing support, IP protection advice, search for investors, bookkeeping, and HR assistance, among others.

Yakutia designs ‘black cube’ for Far East high-tech surge

Authorities in the Republic of Sakha, a large region in Russia’s Far East also known as Yakutia, have approved an architectural design for the area’s first IT Park, a construction project initially announced a year ago with a 2015 deadline. The project will take the form of a large black 12-story cube with a winter garden, East-West Digital News, the first all English-language online resource dedicated to Russian digital industries, reported last week, citing a source in the Sakha Government.

Now slated for completion in early 2016, the park will be located in Yakutsk, the region’s capital, and is expected to deplete regional coffers by an estimated $23m.

YotaPhone second generation recognized as the best at MWC

Leading international Russian media called the most innovative device

More than a dozen leading international media business and telecommunications YotaPhone recognized as the most innovative second generation device exhibition Mobile World Congress (MWC).

A new generation of smartphone with two screens, one of which is always on, received top honors from such prestigious media as CNN, Time, TechLand, ComputerBild, Expert Review, LapTop Mag, PC Mag, Tech Central, PocketLint, T3, Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide , Ubergizmo and others.

The first generation of the device, in turn, sold now in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Germany, France, Spain and Austria. The company plans in the next two months to expand the list of countries to 15 and start selling in the Middle East.

The design of the second generation YotaPhone became more elegant and ergonomic device has become thinner and lighter, while its size increased. Also improved specifications YotaPhone, which will now have a 4-core processor Qualcomm, the main 5-inch AMOLED-display and EPD-second display, which became fully touch.

" We are very grateful to the journalists working at the MWC for the fact that they appreciated our innovative concept of a smartphone with two screens, seeing the potential for a new generation YotaPhone " , - said General Director of Yota Devices Vladislav Martynov. He also stressed that always included a full touchscreen display makes the device even more interactive and intuitive.

" In the second generation YotaPhone we managed to develop the idea of an innovative smartphone with two screens, making the device even more perfect, "- said Vladislav Martynov.

As emphasized previously CEO of Yota Devices, the company plans to improve its facilities, and regularly provide products that can compete with the major market players.

Within 4 days of the exhibition of more than 10 million visitors have visited the booth Yota Devices and able to familiarize himself with the first and second generation YotaPhone.

http://rostec.ru/news/4302

Press Release: http://rostec.ru/content/files/press-rel/press-release_YotaDev.pdf

Scientists have found ways to reduce wear and tear by friction

The seminar was held in tribology NPP "Respirator"

Bezysnosnosti effect in friction was devoted to scientific workshop held recently in NPP "Respirator" the Holding "Air Technologies" .

In Orekhovo-on research and production enterprise (SME) "Respirator", was Interregional Scientific and Practical Seminar "The results of the implementation effect bezyznosnosti in metalworking processes and exploitation." According to the newspaper the scientific community "Search" , participated in the forum was not only tribological scientists, teachers of universities and colleges, but also school teachers, representatives of industry, the transport sector and even the leaders of the local utilities.

Such major scientific events should be held more frequently stressed participants. Combining science, industry, educational institutions and individual customers on the ground - a sign of the time. A company like NPP "Respirator", should be the basis of innovative development of the industry. For they are connected scientific complex and high-tech production base for the training of workers, engineers and scientists.

The seminar was attended by eminent scholar, a classic national tribology - Academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering Dmitri Garkunov. In the 50s of the last century, he made a number of fundamental scientific discoveries, including the effect described bezyznosnosti in friction and wear of metals hydrogen phenomenon. Inventions Dmitry Nikolayevich widely acquisition in aviation and chemical industry, light and heavy engineering, agriculture.

For outstanding achievements in the field of tribology Dmitry Garkunov was awarded the Government of the Russian Federation (2002), Prize of the President of the Russian Federation (2003), the Gold Medal of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), as well as the largest award in the world on Tribology - Gold Medal of the British tribological Trust (2006).

In studies initiated Dmitry Garkunovym, has continued. Employees NPP "Respirator" actively developing theme stated professor. At the seminar, young scientists - Head assembly plant NPP "Respirator" M. Zinin, deputy chief technologist and engineer E. Sergeev S. Gavrilov - told, in particular, the effect of technological implementation bezyznosnosti methods of plastic deformation and the combined holes.

Dmitry Garkunova opening "effect bezyznosnosti" and "hydrogen wear" became the scientific basis for a new strategic direction in the science of friction - "Tribology based on self-organization." The presentation of this theme was also held during the seminar in NPP "Respirator".

In addition, Professor D. Garkunov, E. and V. Melnikov Babel told the audience about the benefits of using metalplacking lubricant compositions. Test motor oils with this additive held in Norway (on trucks) and Germany (passenger). They showed that by using these compositions for consumption by reducing friction loss is reduced to 23%.

Machinery work without wear capable beneficial effect on the ecology of the planet. Indeed, thanks to prolong their life (due to friction bezyznosnogo) can significantly reduce the amount of smelting iron and steel to replace worn-out equipment and machinery.

In conclusion, the participants noted that the section on bezyznosnogo friction and hydrogen wear, should be included in the physics course. Unless schools, the secondary vocational schools and universities - is necessary.  

TRIBOLOGY  - the branch of physics dealing with the research and a description of the contact interaction deformable solids during their relative movement. Area of tribology are the processes of friction, wear and lubrication. Tribology science is divided into several sections: tribometer, Tribotechnics, tribohimiya, tribofizika and tribomehanika.

SPE "RESPIRATOR" is a developer and manufacturer of serial oxygen-respiratory equipment. Company for many years a leader in the development and production of equipment needed for aviation, navy, emergency and health services. In 2009 SPE "Respirator" became part of the holding "Aviation".

http://rostec.ru/news/4368

In Irkutsk, you will drive your car on nanoroads

The authorities in Irkutsk, in Siberia, have decided to start repairing local street roads using what’s known as ‘nanoasphalt,’ a new product tested last year on one of the city streets, the Baikal office of Moskovsky Komsomolets reported.

According to Irkutsk Mayor Viktor Kondrashov, the move will add another 8% to the overall cost of new asphalt.

“The local asphalt factory is beginning this year to use all necessary additives to produce nanoasphalt which we will be using from now on to repair large sections of roads. It will cost us more, but we have consciously decided to do so to increase the quality of our roads,” the mayor said.

Last fall, a small 400 square meter testing area on Voronezhskaya Street was repaired using the new asphalt-bitumen coating based on nanomodified components. The modified asphalt has reportedly proven stronger and more durable than conventional one. The softening temperature for its binder agent is plus 60 degrees Celsius, and the product withstands freezing temperatures of as low as minus 32 degrees Celsius, which is expected to triple the service life of such a road carpet.

The product has been developed by local Nanotechcenter. To make this new asphalt the company first makes polymers using aluminum and silicon production waste.

According to Nanotechcenter, the technology calls for the use of the developer’s proprietary polymer- and nanomodifier-based mineral compound which is added to asphalt-concrete. Polymers are added into what’s known as dolomite flour, a mandatory ingredient of asphalt-concrete, rather than into bitumen itself. In the additive, a special composition is used which includes carbon nanoparticles. Such molecular compounds are believed to possess unique properties.

Center for Vibration Diagnostics opened in Tomsk, first in Russia’s Asian part

A new Center for Vibration Diagnostics and Balancing, Russia’s first east of the Ural Mountains, has opened at Tomsk Polytechnic University in Siberia, TPU announced in its press release.

In addition to training students and re-training industrial staff the Center is expected to help introduce counter-emergency systems to industry.

The $700+K Center is a joint effort by TPU, Diamech 2000, a sizable local equipment maker, and Russia’s Bortnik Fund. According to Sergei Bukhanchenko of TPU’s Research Institute of Cybernetics, the Center will “exclusively” run equipment developed in Russia and “second to no foreign analogs in quality.”

“All oil refineries, energy facilities or aircraft-building factories face problems with vibration diagnostics and balancing. Russia needs such centers… as vibration has an ominous destructive power,” Mr. Bukhanchenko emphasized.

Vibration analyzers and balancing systems are necessary for timely detection of flaws in turbines and other mechanical engineering parts, as well as for the testing of new parts.

The TPU scientist pointed out that “Siberian hydropower stations have already expressed interest in the new Center.” He believes that “had the Sayano-Shushenskay Dam been able to use the services of such a Center, the tragedy could perhaps have been avoided.” (He referred to the catastrophic accident the hydropower plant on the River Yenisei in Siberia suffered on August 17, 2009; the emergency took 75 lives and left a lot of equipment damaged; experts later found in their formal report that “the accident was primarily caused by vibrations of turbine #2 which led to fatigue damage of the mountings of the turbine, including its cover”—Editor’s note)

Nizhny Novgorod hopes to open first IT Park in November

The Nizhny Novgorod Region in the mid-Volga area plans to launch the inaugural stage of its first IT park this November, East-West Digital News, the first all English-language online resource dedicated to Russian digital industries, reported earlier this week, citing an announcement from the Russian Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications that followed a top-level on-site inspection by the Ministry in late March.

The long-awaited $430m Ankudinovka IT Park is one of seven high-technology technoparks around the country mandated by a federal Cabinet decision in 2006.

The government program under which the parks have been funded expires later this year, and the selected regions and technopark residents they have attracted are expected to take over the projects themselves.

The Nizhny park will focus on developing information and telecommunications technologies; medical and biomedical technologies, including innovative cardiovascular disease and cancer therapies, obstetrics equipment, etc.; and technologies for instrument making, mechanical engineering, electronics, chemistry, and new materials.

According to the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Ministry of Investment Policy, Ankudinovka will become home to as many as 100 resident companies that are expected to create about 1,750 new local jobs as they develop. Regional officials hope innovative solutions that will make some high-tech imports redundant will account for up to 65% of the residents’ overall output. There will be enough social infrastructure in the park’s territory to ensure comfortable work and leisure, the local officials said.

Of the total investment required to kick-start the effort, only 3.1 billion rubles (about $88.5 million) will have come from federal and regional coffers, the regional Ministry said. The lion’s share is expected to be contributed by yet-unspecified private investors. The investment is projected to pay off in six years.

The ambitious Nizhny project broke ground in 2012 – much later than most of the other regions picked for the program – and already has a history of delays. In March 2013 the Russian business daily Kommersant reported that federal auditors had expressed “concern over the efficacy of the use of government money in Nizhny’s Ankudinovka.” Last summer government plans were to launch the technopark’s first business center “by the spring of 2014.” In September word came from Ankudinovka’s top management that the IT park would open even earlier – in December 2013. But in October CNews.ru broke the news that the $88m spent so far had brought negligible results and further funding had been “suspended.”

As of today, the only fully built facility in the Ankudinovka Technopark is a data center belonging to Sberbank, the national savings bank.

Russia’s A-bomb nest may become major cyber security R&D hub

Sarov, one of Russia’s largest centers for nuclear research, is heading for diversification. The federal government is considering drawing upon the solid scientific ecosystem of the city, 460km east of Moscow, to create a major hub for IT and cyber security research.

A leading nuclear weapons design area in the USSR which did not appear on unclassified maps and was known only as “Arzamas-16” between 1946 and 1991, Sarov is now a city of 90,000 and home to a nuclear research entity known in the West as VNIIEF. Its achievements in the IT field were acknowledged by Nikolai Nikiforov, the minister of Telecom and Mass Communications, during a visit to the city in late March, reported East-West Digital News, the first all English-language online resource dedicated to Russian digital industries.

The foundation for Sarov’s renewed and enhanced IT capability will be the Sarov Technopark, which was set up to commercialize VNIIEF’s civilian research products through the creation of a number of multi-sector engineering companies.

This active R&D facility has developed competencies in cyber security; supercomputing and big data; automation and hardware-software complex development; laser technologies; alternative energy; new materials; new medical equipment; and power engineering.

Minister Nikiforov hopes to make VNIIEF and the technopark a hub capable of sending commercially viable solutions to customers around the world.

New polymer-reinforcing technique developed in Kazan

Scientists at Kazan Volga Federal University in Russia’s Tatarstan have developed a new method of making carbon nanotubes and polyolefin based compositions that help boost the strength and other physical-mechanical properties of polymers, the university announced in its press release.

As far back as last fall the developers from the university’s Nonorganic Chemistry Chair led by Rustem Amirov obtained a Russian patent for their invention.

Such polymers will be very useful in projects, for which utilizing metals with excessive strength properties is a disadvantage—for example, when trying to reduce the weight of parts for aircraft, motor vehicles or rockets. Such automotive giants as BMW and Renault are already considering taking advantage of the new polymer materials, the Kazan university emphasized.

The Tatarstan developers set an example, in which a car manufacturer added polymers to steel and aluminum when making the body of one of its experimental cars. The move is said to have enabled a 60% weight reduction while keeping a maximum possible strength.

Nobody has approached the Kazan scientists for talks over possible license purchase so far. “The initiative should come from a manufacturer, not from scientists,” Mr. Amirov believes.