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On 28 August, 2015, a press-conference "Materials and technologies of new generation for advanced aviation and space engineering" was organized by the All-Russian scientific-research institute of aviation materials (VIAM) in the framework of the International aviation and space salon MAKS-2015. Academician of RAS Evgeny N. Kablov, General Director of VIAM, Nikolai Gonchar, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on financial market and Victor M. Chuiko, President of The International Association of Aero-Engine Manufacturers (Russian acronym: ASSAD) attended the press-conference.

In his speech, Evgeny Kablov noted that "Russia has a good opportunity not only to regain the lost leadership in the field of new knowledge and technologies, but also to implement them successfully into practice creating competitive innovative products". According to the head of VIAM, it is necessary, however, to coordinate the work of science, education and industry to solve large-scale tasks set by Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, in his message to the Federal Assembly, as well as for the implementation of the National technology initiative.

"Thus, at all stages of development of the domestic industry, the role of materials in creation of new equipment was decisive", he noted. Development of new materials is currently of particular importance, when it is essential to prepare the country for the sixth technological mode and for this purpose to put the economics on the innovative path. "To meet this global challenge, we need a new generation of materials that are developed on the basis of digital technologies on the principle of continuity: material–technology–construction", Evgeny Kablov emphasized. "The use of materials of new generation is particularly important to ensure the technological independence and the defense power of Russia under conditions with which our country and economics face today," Director General of VIAM said.

According to him, without materials of new generation the domestic aviation industry and the Russian industry in general will experience failure in upgrade and creation of the modern industries, in establishment of the manufacture of high-tech products. "It's important to win the competition, and most importantly – to evolve from export of hydrocarbon to the export of innovative products," Evgeny Kablov said.

In addition, the introduction of materials and manufacturing technologies of the new generation will allow to solve important socio-economic tasks. In his opinion, the introduction of modern materials will directly influence both on the creation of new jobs and on a significant increase in the efficiency of technological processes in traditional sectors of the economics. "Taking the above into account, the Interdepartmental working group on adjustment of the priority directions of development of science, technologies and engineering in the Russian Federation and responsible for the list of critical technologies had approved the new priority direction "Materials and manufacturing technologies of new generation", Evgeny Kablov reported.

VIAM has developed "Strategic directions of development of materials and technologies of their processing for the period until 2030" to solve the system tasks of the domestic industry. This document, which was approved by the Scientific-Technical Council of the Military-Industrial Commission of the Russian Federation, analyzes domestic and international experience, summarizes and predicts the use of new materials in all sectors of the domestic economics. According to the head of VIAM, "our Institute doesn't just offer new materials, but it evaluates the prospects for the development of products specified by strategies of such leading domestic enterprises as United Aircraft Building Corporation (Russian acronym: OAK), the holding company "Russian Helicopters", United Engine Corporation (Russian acronym: ODK), United Shipbuilding Corporation OSK), Rosatom, Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Russian Railways and others."

In addition, Evgeny Kablov noted that today it is extremely important for Russia to form and to develop the intellectual property market as a key condition for the establishment of innovative economics and reindustrialization of the national industry. "Unfortunately, today the implementation of inventions and protection of intellectual property rights of our scientists does not meet real current requirements," he said. As Evgeny Kablov reported, "the world experience shows that the main condition for the protection of intellectual property is the governmental regulation aimed at the elaboration of the national strategy of innovative development through the market of intellectual property".

In addition, Evgeny Kablov noted that today it is extremely important for Russia to form and to develop the intellectual property market as a key condition for the establishment of innovative economics and reindustrialization of the national industry. "Unfortunately, today the implementation of inventions and protection of intellectual property rights of our scientists does not meet real current requirements," he said. As Evgeny Kablov reported, "the world experience shows that the main condition for the protection of intellectual property is the governmental regulation aimed at the elaboration of the national strategy of innovative development through the market of intellectual property".

"To some extent the Western sanctions offer a great chance to reassess the current state and to make clear conclusions about how to develop our aviation industry in the future," Nikolai Gonchar noted.

Answering a journalist's question about the developments of VIAM in the field of additive technologies, Evgeny Kablov told that it is necessary to coordinate the efforts of all design, research and engineering teams in several directions to develop these technologies in Russia. "That is the development of national standards for additive manufacturing, training and retraining of qualified personnel, and production of metal and non-metal powder compositions, because the quality of final products depends on the quality of powders", he emphasized.

Particularly, powder compositions have to meet strict requirements. "Production technology of metal powder compositions should provide a certain particle size distribution and high sphericity", Director General of VIAM said.

Evgeny Kablov stated that domestic enterprises currently purchase and use the alloy powders produced abroad and supplied by companies manufacturing 3D systems. "The closed cycle of additive manufacturing of intricate-shaped parts of complex technical systems has been organized VIAM. This cycle consists of manufacturing of consumable feedstock, production of fine metal powders and selective laser sintering of parts from these powders to solve the problem of shortage of domestic powder compositions", he noted.

In addition, the General Director of VIAM stated that the efforts of the staff of the Institute to develop 3D printing have already borne fruit: for the first time in Russia the front combustion chamber swirler for promising aircraft engine PD-14 has been produced in VIAM by additive technology using domestic metal-powder composition, which meets all the requirements of design documentation. "The cycle of manufacture of such swirlers is on average 10 times less than that in case of production by investment casting," Evgeny Kablov informed.

Speaking of polymer composite materials (PCM), he noted that "they are one of the most popular resources of modern industrial production." According to the head of VIAM, especially widely and effectively PCM are used in high-tech industries, including the aerospace sector. "At present, there is not a single flying vehicle, in structures of which no composite materials are. The share of PCM in some modern airplanes reaches 60 %," he said.

Evgeny Kablov told that "VIAM is the status leader in the development of compositions and technology of production of composite materials in Russia. Composite materials developed at the Institute are used at creation of advanced aviation and rocket equipment, and are not inferior, but in a number of indicators superior to their foreign counterparts". "In total, more than 300 brands of PCM were developed at VIAM for the domestic enterprises of aerospace industry", said Director General of the Institute.

Discussing the subject of education, Evgeny Kablov stated that training of highly qualified engineers is one of the top priorities of VIAM. He noted that "for several years we have managed to build a system of continuous education, which allows us to train highly skilled professionals for our Institute and industry science in general." According to him, various schemes of the social support of youth VIAM successfully implements in the course of training. "I have to say that our work in this area has yielded tangible results. For example, for last 15 years the average age of the staff has decreased from 61 years down to 43 years. 887 employees of the Institute (from the total number of 1913 people) are under the age of 35 years", the head of VIAM emphasized. In addition, he has noted that the system of training and mentoring used in VIAM plays an important role in formation of the personnel reserve.

In conclusion, Evgeny Kablov has presented the book "Trends and benchmarks of the innovative development of Russia". The book is a compilation of research and informative papers prepared by the Director General of VIAM and is devoted to the analysis and critical consideration of the newest tendencies in development of innovative processes in our country, as well as to key measures of the state policy aimed at their regulation.