Recently, the media spread the news that Yevheniia Chvertko, Associate Professor of the Welding Department of the E.O. Paton Educational and Research Institute of Materials Science and Welding (ERIW) of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, became the first woman in Ukraine and Eastern Europe to receive a prestigious award from the International Institute of Welding (IIW), an organisation that defines global standards in welding technology. Among her achievements, Evgeniya Petrovna helped to revoke russia's membership in the IIW. Currently, E. Chvertko is a member of the International Council for Authorisation, which trains and certifies welding professionals. She is also the deputy director of the Institute of Welding for international cooperation. Therefore, in the new academic year, Yevheniia Chvertko will continue to systematically use her own teaching skills and the experience of colleagues based on the latest achievements of science and technology in the field of welding, which increases the effectiveness of the educational process for students. This and other interesting topics were discussed during an interview with her by a correspondent of Kyiv Polytechnic. During the conversation with Yevheniia Petrivna, he also asked about the development of her scientific and teaching biography. This is how the conversation started.
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- So, Ms Yevheniia, almost 14 years ago, Kyiv Polytechnic told us about the winners of the university competition ‘Young Lecturer-Researcher 2011’, among whom you were. It was the first event in the history of the then predominantly male welding faculty. I would like to know who helped you choose your future profession. Please recall your first steps as a student into this profession, which is difficult from an engineering and scientific point of view.
- The fact is that I was born into a family of welding engineers. Hence the influence on my choice of future profession. My father is a well-known scientist, PhD in Engineering, and has worked at the E.O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding throughout his life. So, as the saying goes, my daughter followed in her parents' footsteps, entered the welding faculty and graduated with honours in 2001. I should note that it was quite difficult to study. In addition, as a graduate of a specialised humanitarian school, I found mathematics, physics and chemistry difficult in my first year at university. But I was lucky with my teachers, because they were very demanding, but they taught the material at a high level.
- Were there any other girls in your study group besides you? What do they do now?
- There were five girls in our stream, which consists of three groups, in the first year, but only three graduated. I know that they don't work in their field of study, but let's not forget that more than 20 years have passed since they received their degrees.
- Where did your scientific trajectory go from there?
- I worked as an assistant, senior lecturer, associate professor at the Department of Electric Welding Installations, since 2020 - associate professor of the Department of Start-up Technologies of Connections and Surface Engineering, and since 2022 I have been working as an associate professor at the Department of Welding Production. During her research and teaching career, she participated in scientific developments in the automatic control of welding processes and quality assurance of welded joints. In 2011, she defended her PhD thesis on ‘Monitoring the process of resistance butt welding by fusion’. The results of the presented developments were implemented during the construction of new and reconstruction of existing facilities at the NSC Olimpiyskiy, in particular, during the installation of crossbars of the upper tier of the VIP-sector spectator stands and slabs of the access area for sports teams' buses. The work was presented at the International Welding Congress ‘Advanced Welding Science and Technologies - 2011’ in Antalya (Turkey), where it received an award.
- These are the first successes, and then there were a number of scientific papers and textbooks?
- Yes, I have scientific papers, I am a co-author of three textbooks for international welding engineers published by Springer (two textbooks were awarded at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute competitions for the best textbook, monograph, and textbook in 2023 and 2024). I am a winner of the State Prize in Education in 2018 for my work ‘Development and Implementation of Innovative Teaching Technologies for Training Skilled Workers in the Profession of Welder’.
- Please tell us more about this award.
- This is a recognition of my merits for the development of a new standard for vocational training in the profession of welder. The standard is fully harmonised with European and international programmes. It provides for independent certification and the opportunity for graduates to obtain an internationally recognised welder certificate immediately after graduation. The current national standard requires six months of work experience after completion of vocational training to obtain the certificate.
- Yevheniia Petrivna, I know that among your awards is the medal ‘People's Honour to Ukrainian Scientists 1918-2018’. These awards were presented in the Great Conference Hall of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine to mark the centenary of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. ‘For a significant contribution to the development of national education and science’ - a quote from the diploma of the laureate of the high award. What did you receive the award for?
- This is another appreciation of my work. Since 2007, I have been acting as the Deputy Dean for International Cooperation, where I work with international students. Currently, I am the Deputy Director of the Institute of International Relations for International Cooperation.
- However, this is not the only fact from your academic biography. Please tell us more about the activities of the Training Centre.
- Yes, 16 years ago, I was appointed curator of the Training Centre based at the Faculty of Welding, which is accredited by the International Institute of Welding. I would like to note that our Centre trains specialists with the qualification level of International Welding Engineer. In 2010, the scope of our competence was expanded. Today we train international engineers, technologists and welding specialists.
- What about the International Institute of Welding? What do you do at this institution?
- Since 2009, I have been holding the position of Executive Director of the Authorised National Body of the International Institute of Welding for Training and Certification of Personnel. My main activities are related to the training, retraining, attestation and certification of welding production personnel and production certification. In general, since 2007, under my leadership, groups of engineers and technologists have been trained annually at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Almost 400 specialists have been trained. Even in 2022, during Russia's large-scale aggression against Ukraine, we graduated specialists. I would like to note that the Centre is a structural unit of the Institute of Chemical Engineering. In 2023, the relevant licence for the qualification ‘International Welding Specialist’ was extended.
- Yevheniia Petrivna, let's continue talking about your international activities. Are you an auditor of the functioning of attestation and certification centres?
- To clarify, since 2010 I have been a member of the delegation to the European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting. And in 2018, I became the first representative of Ukraine to become an auditor of the activities of the International Institute of Welding and the European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting certification centres. By the way, in 2021-2024, I was a member of the Board of Directors of this organisation. By the way, there are people on this board who are ex officio, as we say, and there are those who have to go through a competition. I am the first woman to be selected from Ukraine. Before me, Academician Kostyantyn Yushchenko was an ex officio member of the Board in 2009-2012 as a representative of the country that was to host the annual assembly.
- Working at the International Institute of Welding involves working in various working groups. What do you do?
- The current task is to develop harmonised exams for different categories of personnel. I mean, there are national exams (in this case, licensed certification centres develop exam programmes independently). And the harmonised exams are the same for all those who want to be certified under international programmes: coordinators, welders, welding operators, inspection personnel, etc. It is clear that updating training programmes is a priority. Today, we are reformatting training programmes into Competence Units. For some programmes, these modules may partially overlap, in which case the candidate for the qualification can re-credit the modules. Such a system has already been introduced for welders (workers), and there have already been cases in Ukraine where specialists have received a diploma based on a set of preliminary exams without additional training. The next task is to ensure that the programme includes credits in addition to classroom hours. We are not talking about ECTS, as in the university, but ECVAT, which is practically the same, but for professional qualifications. Although the essence is related.
- In which domestic and foreign scientific journals have you published your works?
- In recent years, I have co-authored three textbooks with Springer. As for domestic publications, I cooperate most closely with the Automatic Welding magazine.
- Do you keep in touch creatively with your graduate students?
- At one time, I was the curator of a double degree programme with the University of Uberlândia (Brazil). We still keep in touch with the graduates of this programme. Maksym Ziberov and Yaroslav Skhabovsky work in Brazil (welding production, inspection). After successfully defending his thesis, Yuriy Yegorov returned to Ukraine, first set up his own additive manufacturing business, and now serves in the Armed Forces. Farid Jabrailov returned home to Baku and works for an underground construction company. So, there is a creative and purely human connection.
- Yevheniia Petrivna, I wish you further success in your scientific and pedagogical work.