Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Sayasat Nurbek reported at the Government session on the work being carried out to train engineering personnel for the automotive industry.

He noted that today the ministry is building a system for training engineers capable of working with digital production, robotization, and artificial intelligence. Training of personnel for the automotive industry is carried out in 19 universities of the country under 34 educational programs. Almost 4 thousand students receive engineering education in areas in demand by the automotive industry. This year, more than 3 thousand state grants have been allocated.

“At the same time, we are training world-class specialists through the “Bolashak” program. 176 specialists have already been trained; currently, 23 scholarship holders are undergoing training and scientific internships in Germany, Great Britain, the USA, the Czech Republic, Japan, China, Italy, and other countries,” Sayasat Nurbek reported.

The Minister added that, on the instruction of the Head of State, a new model of engineering education has been introduced since 2024. A transition to a single training trajectory is envisaged, a continuous standard of engineering education has been introduced, the integration of education, science, and production has been strengthened, and new mechanisms for continuous professional growth have been defined.

It was noted that the department has developed 9 sectoral and 20 regional atlases of new professions and competencies.

The sectoral atlases of professions “Mechanical Engineering” and “Transport and Logistics”, as well as the regional atlases of the Karaganda and Kostanay regions, directly cover the mechanical engineering industry. 31 new professions are emerging, and 22 existing professions are subject to transformation. On their basis, universities are updating their educational programs.

In addition, a large-scale survey of 73 thousand enterprises was conducted, of which 92 are in the automotive industry. For the automotive industry, the need for engineering and working personnel for the next three years amounts to more than 10 thousand people. To train engineers with digital competencies, work is being carried out in two directions:

• Access to world educational programs. Through the Coursera platform, students receive international certificates in modern engineering areas. Over three years, students received more than 3 thousand certificates in 80 automotive industry courses.
• Implementation of AI in the educational process. Through the AI-Sana program, almost all students have mastered the basics of artificial intelligence, and more than 60 thousand students have completed a course on the use of AI in entrepreneurial activities. Students begin to solve real production tasks while still studying. One example is the NOVA - Allur project, implemented by students of the Kostanay Regional University named after Akhmet Baitursynuly jointly with the Allur enterprise. An artificial intelligence system has been developed for the automatic detection of defects in car paintwork. This practice will be scaled.

“6 engineer specialists from Astana Motors, being doctoral students at Satbayev University, are developing rationalization proposals for automating quality control at the stages of production and assembly of passenger cars. They are also working on optimizing technological processes to increase productivity at the Astana Motors plants. Training of personnel for robotic and intelligent productions is consistently developing. For example, robot centers have been created at Al-Farabi KazNU and Satbayev University. The Lu Ban Workshop has been opened at the East Kazakhstan Technical University. More than 500 students study autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and intelligent transport systems,” Sayasat Nurbek clarified.

The Minister also reported that, together with international partners, a modern engineering center SMART Driving Technology was created in 2025. Applied research is being carried out in parallel. The project is already moving to the international level. In August this year, a certification center will be launched on the basis of the Lu Ban Workshop at EKTU with the participation of Great Wall Motor, Tianjin Vocational Institute, and Astana Motors.

The center provides training for specialists in vehicle diagnostics and intelligent systems with the issuance of a qualification certificate. Such a certificate is mandatory for working in dealer centers of Chinese cars. This is the first certification center in Central Asia, where more than 100 dealer centers operate. They will all undergo certification in Ust-Kamenogorsk on the basis of the Lu Ban Workshop. And EKTU graduates automatically receive a qualification certificate.

Also, an automotive cluster is being formed in Kostanay. Therefore, the local university is becoming a key center for training personnel for the automotive industry. Together with Korean partners from Dong-Eui University, a dual-degree program is being implemented at Baitursynuly University. 12 students underwent training and practice in the partner university’s laboratories in Korea; more than 5 capstone projects were developed jointly with industrial companies, some of which have already been implemented at the Kia plant in Kostanay.

Training directly at production sites is expanding. Since 2024, training under the industrial PhD program has begun. Doctoral students work on real engineering tasks of enterprises. Enterprises receive solutions. Currently, 13 doctoral students from 4 universities are conducting their research in the field of the automotive industry directly at enterprises. The number of scientific projects in technical areas is increasing. 839 projects are being implemented in the field of technical sciences.

“We will further develop engineering centers and departments directly at production sites. The joint work of the state, universities, and business ensures that the automotive industry is provided with a new generation of engineers,” Sayasat Nurbek concluded.

#Education #Government session #President's instruction #Transport

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