In building the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, it would be an “extraordinary waste of energy” to simply create another MIT, the president of the fledgling Russian innovations university, Ed Crawley, has said in televised remarks.
Skoltech was conceived in 2011 in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Crawley is professor of aeronautics and astronautics and of engineering systems. He moved to Russia to supervise the construction of what he called on the rolling Russia 24 news channel a “unique” educational center that will complement, not compete with, its US counterpart.
“It would be an extraordinary waste of energy to try to build another MIT here in Russia,” Crawley said in the half-hour interview on the ‘Opinions’ show.
Skoltech president Ed Crawley. Photo: vesti.ru
Skoltech, a private graduate research facility that falls under the auspices of the Skolkovo Foundation, currently has over 200 students, with several dozen already boasting their own companies. By 2020 it plans to have expanded to 1,200 students, 200 professors and another 200 researchers.
Innovation – and how to commercialize research – is at the heart of the curriculum, which potentially gives the university the edge in global academic circles, Crawley said.
“I’ve been in this business for 40 years and I think there are lots of areas where we can be better than MIT. For example: When a student comes to Skoltech. The first thing that student learns is innovation. About how to work in a team, about how to listen to customer demands, about how to create a solution. They don’t really have that approach at MIT.”
That ethos is embedded in every student the moment they walk in the door, Crawley added.
“It’s like my mother said: You only get one chance to create a first impression. So the first impression we’re trying to create with every student who comes to Skoltech is that they are here to become innovators,” he said.
“To work in an organized manner, in a team and be an active participant there. We have an entire educational format that takes what a student already knows and helps them apply it to new challenges.”
This June sees the first cohort of students claim their doctorates.