Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov at Kazan University

The Minister is a frequent guest of KFU. This time he came to participate in the grand opening of IOI 2016 on August 13th.

Rector Ilshat Gafurov used this opportunity to show the high official the KFU Observatory and the IT Lyceum.

The Observatory has for a long time been the University’s pride. Vasily Engelgardt (after whom the facility is named) gave the most of his private collection of astronomical items to KFU in 1897. They are carefully preserved and used to this day.

Mr. Livanov was here for the first time and could learn about the Observatory and also to talk to the kids who happened to visit for a science trip.

Rector Gafurov shared his plans to turn the Observatory into a federal science and education center for internships and recreation. Moreover, the employees also intend to intensify their community outreach – with public documentary showings and lectures. Projects in astronomy and astrophysics were then shown to the Minister.

The next stop was at the IT Lyceum. Mr. Livanov got acquainted with Eve – a robot helper for teachers. Her exterior was inspired (obviously) by the adorable namesake from WALL-E, but  her “brains” are the work of KFU’s beautiful minds. Eve will start practicing her craft this September 1st. She is currently able to recognize faces, scan biometric data, speak and recognize speech. These are all separate abilities, however, and it’s now important to teach her to hold meaningful discourse with students. Programmers are not the only ones involved in this ambitious endeavor; there are also doctors, psychologists, and linguists. If the tests are successful, Eve may soon appear in classrooms across Russia. Minister Livanov was all for it.