Report of O. A. Struve, Candidate for the Chairmanship of VIII Department. Part 1

News from the archives. An article in Rail Business [Zheleznodorozhnoe Delo] introduced 110 years ago to the readers the report of O. A. Struve, presented at the Solemn General Meeting of the members of the Imperial Russian Technical Society on April 15, 1911 on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the beginning of railways in Russia, chaired by the Honorary Chairman of the Society His Imperial Highness Grand Prince Alexander Mikhailovich.The publication of the report will be continued in the next issue.

Engineering an industrial city. 125 years of Tampere Technical Society

A group of engineers and architects established a technical society in Tampere 128 years ago in 1893. In 2018, Tampere Technical Society turned 125 years. To celebrate its accomplishments and longevity, the Society published a book called Tekniikkaa hyvässä Seurassa. The Finnish title translates roughly ‘about technology in good company’. The volume is a result of an extensive research project funded by the Society. The project aimed at studying the intertwined histories of the City of Tampere, the Society, and its members from the early 1890s until the 2010s. This article introduces the Society and summarises its historical developments in English based on the book.

The movement of passengers and goods along a railless track

The publication reproduces with some abridgement but keeping as far as possible author’s lexical means and style the report of I. V. Shirman at the meeting of the 8th Department of Imperial Russian Technical Society on March 4, 1910, chaired by O. A. Struve. The meeting discussed engineering and economic issues of operation of transport vehicles using electric traction and the most promising at that time, the idea of autonomously powered passenger systems was also highlighted.

The Role of Educational and Demonstration Workshops in the Development of Vocational Education and Training for the Handicraft Industry of Tomsk Province in the Early XX Century

The present research featured educational and demonstration handicraft workshops in the Tomsk Province in the early XX century. The research objective was to determine the general course and features of the workshops that played a significant role in the modernization of technology and handicrafts in the region, along with other institutions of the Tomsk State Handicraft Committee, e.g. museums, warehouses, and libraries. The workshops became an important part of vocational education. A major role on the state level belonged to the administration of land management and agriculture and the Imperial Russian technical society. In the Tomsk province it belonged to the Tomsk Provincial Handicraft Committee and the Tomsk Department of the Russian Technical Society. By 1917, seventeen settlements in six parishes of the Province had seventeen workshops in nine areas of handicraft industry. Weaving, wagon-making, and agricultural engineering workshops predominated. They became centers for the development of vocational education and the popularization of new technologies. They organized educational support workshops for the adult population, sold modern machinery and materials, built warehouses for handicrafts and repair shops, instructor schools, etc. The network of workshops, along with vocational educational institutions, became the basis for the Soviet system of vocational education in Siberia in the post-revolutionary period. The paper contains an analysis of researches and historical sources. The results helped to fill the gaps in the history of vocational education in the South of Western Siberia.

Formation of the System of Professional Education of the Emperor’s Russian Technical Society

Introduction. The article is devoted to the analysis of the results of the activity of the Emperor’s Russian Technical Society (ERTS) and its Permanent committee in solving problems of the professional education system development. The author focuses on the analysis of this organization’s activity in creation of the lower level of the professional education for the workers of industrial enterprises. Materials and Methods. The materials published in the journal “Technical Education” (since 1908 – “Technical and Commercial Education”) were the main source of the research, as well as the resolution of the congresses of Russian activists for technical and commercial education. During these forums a concept of professional education within the unfolding modernization was developed; the problems of relation between general and special education were discussed; main types of technical and commercial schools were studied; the problems of financing of professional schools were raised, etc. General scientific and special methods, including system analysis were used as the main research methods. Results. The author makes a conclusion that the system of professional education was developed in Russia with the participation of the civil society and ERTS and its Permanent committee for technical education, which activity was mainly focused on lower professional education, played key role in this process. The reason for this was both the request of society itself during modernization and the financial capacities of ERTS. Discussion. The system of professional education of lower level, aimed at training of workers with modern competencies was the important factor of solving problems of the human capital quality during the unfolding modernization. The development of this system was suppressed by the low level of general education among the workers of industrial enterprises. Conclusion. The conclusion is made that, in spite of the difficulties of organizational, legal and financial nature, the system of the workers’ professional education, independent from the state institutions, developed rather successfully, which contributed to solving the problems of increasing the quality of the human capital during the country’s modernization. At the same time, it is noted that ERTS and its Permanent committee failed to completely solve this problem.

POLISH RADIO ON THE BACKGROUND OF SYSTEMIC CHANGES IN POLAND IN THE YEARS 1945-1956

The Polish Radio began its activity on the first of February 1925. On this day the first program of the Polish Radio technical Society was broadcasted. From then on, the radio accompanied Polish people in good and bad times. The years 1946 – 1956 were not so glorious. At that time, Polish radio became the propaganda tool for the PPR and from December 1949 the PZPR. These parties, mainly under the slogans of the reconstruction of the country from war damage and the struggle for peace, sought to Stalinize Poland on the model of the USSR. While studying those times, it should be stated that information and publication hardly existed because it was replaced by a hypocritical, brutal and intrusive propaganda. However, history of Polish Radio in those years should not only been described in critical way. At that time, many very important and socially necessary initiatives took place. Since the first year after regaining independence, more and more new broadcast stations have been launched in various regions of Poland. New programs were broad-casting more and more often, such as "Muzyka i Aktualności", in which various mes-sages were given with ease, interwoven with modern jazz music.