The International Conference of technical textiles, nonwovens and equipment Technotextil 2024 started in Crocus Expo in Moscow. One of the scientific partners of the business program is the University of Industrial Technologies and Design. The business program included specialized conferences, seminars and lectures from invited speakers, including scientists of Ƶ, who presented their innovative solutions to the scientific and business community of Russia, India, China, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Tunisia in the field of engineering and technical textiles.
The speaker of the discussion “Dialogue between manufacturers and R&D: standards of effective partnership” on the Technotextil conference platform was Denis Pushkar - Project Manager of the Office of Scientific and Technological Initiative of Ƶ. Today he is engaged in bringing to the market those technologies, which are born in scientific laboratories of the University PROMTECHDISIGN, and their implementation in domestic production.

In his interview, the expert explained how the model of effective partnership between the university and business should work.
We all understand perfectly well that a scientist should not be engaged in “selling” his development. The mission of a scientist is science, the search for a method, a way, an invention. But still, without him, implementation and subsequent production is impossible. Denis, please tell us what place the scientist occupies in this long chain between the university and the entrepreneur.
Scientific and technical progress is impossible without the participation of scientists, but if we are talking about applied science, which is of interest to entrepreneurs because of its practical importance, then we must be oriented to the market conditions. This means that marketing, analytics and understanding of demand help to clearly visualize the requirements for innovation, and the economic effect of the development. Thus, on the one hand, the scientist's developments are the basis of scientific and technological progress, on the other hand, the scientist becomes an equal participant in the market if he wants his ideas and developments to be realized.
Who in the end, and we are considering the ecosystem of the university, should be engaged in “packaging” let's call it “product”, i.e. the result of the scientist's work?
This is a complex process. If there is a certain laboratory development, in order to bring it to the market, it is necessary to get a set of data from the scientist: what the innovation is, what raw materials, technological scheme, equipment, etc. are needed. The marketing expert and patent analyst study market participants (suppliers of raw materials, equipment, potential customers), determine the deficit, forecast who may be interested in implementation, and find out whether there are similar solutions on the market, and obtain data from the scientist on the distinctive features of his invention. Based on the data obtained, the economist calculates the cost of the solution and passes the data to the commercial department. This whole complex is the “product packaging”. This is handled by a number of specialists.

Where are the weak, painful points in your narrative of how things should be? What is currently not working and why?
The point is not in weak points, but in effective and well-coordinated work of the above-mentioned specialists. What nobody needs is not implemented, but if there is at least a scientific novelty in an applied development, the definition of the most relevant area of application and the cost-effectiveness of the project increase the chances of success.
Denis, how did it used to be in the USSR, for example? And what today prevents us from reviving what has been accumulated?
The directive approach that took place in the development of science and technology in the USSR became the basis for obtaining results in such industries as the defense-industrial complex, space, nuclear and a number of others. By the way, the University of Industrial Technology and Design, at that time LITLP, thanks to the research of Dr. Stalevich introduced its developments in the field of calculating the mechanical characteristics of parachute slings for the landing of armored vehicles. But the problem is that, firstly, the scientific and technical policy was narrowly focused and, secondly, it was not oriented at all to what was really in demand. I would like to say demanded by the market, but formally there was no market in the USSR. Thirdly, most of the developments that remained “on paper” could not be implemented due to the lack of technological base.
Today, everything that was accumulated (in terms of developments) has lost its relevance, NTP has moved on. But the class of entrepreneurs has legalized and started to develop openly. It remains to establish effective interaction between entrepreneurs, universities and the state. This is happening.

