Recently, the first graduates from Metinvest Polytechnic, a Ukrainian non-state mining and metallurgical university, were awarded master's degrees in technical specialities. Roman Tatochenko, an employee of Metinvest's Northern GOK, was among the 143 graduates who successfully defended his Master's degree in Computer Science and Digital Intelligence. Read about the benefits of IT education, career prospects and the digitalisation of the plant's technological processes in an interview with the master's student.
What was fantastic yesterday is now becoming commonplace. Today, a specialist in computer technologies and artificial intelligence is one of the most sought-after professions. In particular, in metallurgy and mining, army and military industry. Roman Tatochenko, an instrumentation fitter at Northern GOK's automation control department, did not have an IT degree. He graduated from Kryvyi Rih National University with a degree in Electrical power, Electrical engineering and Electromechanics. However, he has long been interested in computer technology and programming. Therefore, as soon as the opportunity to study at Metinvest Polytechnic appeared, he took it.
"It's great that our company's employees have the opportunity to study at such a leading-edge university - it was a good opportunity for me to strengthen my career position and expand my professional prospects. Besides, this is something I have long dreamed of doing. Combining computer technology and artificial intelligence capabilities with my experience in production is, firstly, interesting, and secondly, promising. This is the future that will come to us tomorrow and in which I will be able to fulfil myself as a specialist," Roman says.
Roman Tatochenko's area of responsibility at the plant is the pelletising and roasting automation systems section in Pelletising Shop No.2 (PS-2). For more than six years of experience, he has studied the equipment of indurating machines inside and out.
"I work with measuring devices. Imagine a bunch of sensors. There are over a thousand of them here! Each device measures some operation parameter of the indurating machine equipment, for example, the temperature in the furnace, the weight of concentrate in bins, the speed of conveyors and many, many others. If something goes wrong, they call us for diagnostics and repairs," – the specialist says.
Roman chose the well-known PS-2 as the place to develop his graduation project. He analysed the operation of the indurating machine equipment and proposed a project to digitise and automate the production processes and ensure the stable quality of raw materials. According to his calculations, the intellectualisation of technological processes will allow him to control the way of material up to product manufacturing, analyse parameters and ensure timely intervention in the process using artificial intelligence.
"The study programme at Metinvest Polytechnic prepared me to work in areas related to the development of digitalisation in manufacturing. All that's needed now is a lot of practice. I am convinced that new technologies such as artificial intelligence can help people improve their lives: in the healthcare, education, and business fields. This is tomorrow and I want to become an important part of this future. And where I will put all this to good use - at the plant's production facilities or in the army, if I am conscripted – time will tell," Roman TATOCHENKO concluded.
