Try to imagine a person involved in the development of anti-terrorism security systems, intelligent video surveillance systems, automated control systems? Probably, the imagination paints a strict gray-haired man in glasses, which … Actually, it is not necessary further, because all this is about a woman, Nadia Lobanchikova. The candidate of technical sciences, associate professor, acting dean of the Faculty of information and computer technologies ZSTU and the mother of three children gained a lot of competencies, because they are able to dream, work hard and love their work

“I always liked the IT sphere, engineering sciences. And at that moment, when I entered the Polytechnic Institute, I myself did not even see anyone else. I came to enter a higher vocational school. And another year had to study there, just came to try to go to the institute to find out what exams, how to take them. But it turned out that I entered, was sixth in six budget places, and of course, their documents have not taken away. And for parents it was a continuous surprise: my mother did not even initially believe it, until she was convinced of seeing me in the student lists”

“I have not done anything super” and did not. I just love what I am doing. Now I was entrusted with an important mission – to be a dean of the faculty. One thing is to be a teacher, and quite another, to be responsible for 66 people and almost 1000 students”

“I specialize in engineer-system engineer. My graduation project had an applied aspect: then for the firm involved in trading and storing a large amount of food products, we, together with our husband, developed an automated control system for the refrigeration unit of a refrigerated car, which maintained comfortable conditions for the storage of a certain type of product. We used the automated tools of that time, and although we did not intend to go into serial or mass production, the system then used for ten years exactly”

“We studied with a husband together. He is a practitioner, still working on a specialty. Designed and implemented automated systems are now widely used in Ukrainian enterprises. And they all started with a simple one. There was never an automated control of such refrigerating units that stood and stand in the markets of Zhytomyr, and we first made the system stop, and not “blow” in the face of cold air to the person when she opened the door of the refrigerating chamber. Then it was a huge step forward. And, automatic thawing, when it is not necessary to disconnect from the power supply, when it was possible to set a certain temperature of the camera operation, and not to remain in the limited parameters. So we worked there”

“I had several opportunities to go abroad. In 2003 – in Denmark, from Italy there were offers. There were specialists in the field of automation of refrigerating units, ventilation installations, and air conditioning. Even now offers are coming. Only now I am more offered to teach certain special disciplines, and to husband – to head technical departments, but we are better at home”

“It would be interesting for me, apparently, to work directly on production. Everything was interesting to me. Even when I entered the institute, I did not think that I would be a teacher, but life gives its suggestions, and you make a choice. If I was told 20 years ago that I would be a teacher, I would not believe it, said: “But you can not be that way” (Laughs)

“When we were married to a husband, we were 18-19 years old. We had a goal: to get education, work, to buy an apartment and car till 30 years. At 28 we already had everything. Well, two children. And then we began to set ourselves new goals, another goal. Now we are building a house. This, of course, is slowly taking place, we have been building for four years, but do not stand still”

“Material things are important. Now we have a child in the ninth grade, and she is waiting for us suggestions on who to become. And I can not say that we do not think about the financial condition, what funds it will then earn. This is important for life, and who we would not want to be, but if it does not bring profits, then we refuse our idea. It is necessary to analyze who to become to have paid work”

“When we were studying at the institute, there were six girls among the group’s 28 students. We had a fun, friendly group. And we, the girls, were comfortable. We guys were like “flowers,” but there was absolutely no attitude. Girls learned almost perfectly. I can not say anything about the competition: we all learned the same way, everyone had a common goal – to study, to pass discipline, to master skills. And there was no division with us”

“The approaches to teaching have changed now, the students themselves changed accordingly. We had one opportunity to join in the past, and now young people are given much more opportunities: they can choose for themselves, set priorities, submit several applications. Perhaps this has a certain impact on the student’s choice. Therefore, in this system there are pluses and minuses. And in this case, one always has to listen to himself, to his inner Self: “Who am I really going to become?”

“Modern education is very versatile, and knowledge of IT technologies is inherent in every field. The only thing that a person can be a professional, but maybe just a user. This determines the direction of preparation. At the faculty, we are still training IT professionals to help others navigate: develop a program, write a website, maintain a database, set up a network, protect information, manage communications remotely. Where they will go to work – in the economy, in finance, in banking, in enterprises, factories or IT companies – this is the specifics of the subject area in which they will be able to adapt for a minimum of time”

“Today, the IT sphere is developing very rapidly in Zhytomyr. We have created several incubators, there are startups that are developing quite successfully, and foreign and Kyiv organizations open offices and firms. Compared to European or eastern countries, we are usually lagging behind in access to state-of-the-art technologies. But now there is a very fruitful collaboration with IT companies: they provide us with access to state-of-the-art technologies. These are cloud services, and cluster systems, for example, the same automation tools. We cooperate with companies Cisco and Microsoft, Siemens, ICM Ukraine, Viseven, RUT-automatics, Ukrtelecom and others. They enable our students to work, master modern technologies. We invite lecturers and foreign specialists, and domestic professional practitioners to read lectures. Perhaps we do not have enough equipment, but the specialist, whom we release, is well aware of modern technologies”

“Nowadays many students go abroad. On the one hand, we encourage them to go for the practice, but do everything we can to get back and graduate, have a bachelor’s or master’s degree. I am specifically addressing this: I do not see my students at all, especially those who graduated from the IT faculty, working on farms or growing some products or providing cleaning services. I believe that when our specialists go abroad, they are IT-guys, and there they should work in this direction. This will give them wider opportunities. But IT companies that represent the labor market in Zhytomyr are paying quite well for our students and their employees here, in place. In Zhytomyr, now you can also earn a decent job, the only thing you need to do is really work: to know certain languages, to improve yourself, to develop the knowledge that they provide here”

“We have many practitioners who deal with IT, electricity, automation, and the markets of Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria are now attracting our specialists. Representatives of Siemens Industry Inc. from Korea came to us, offered the outflow of our students to Poland, but our rector suggested to them: “Open the plant with us, and we will give you the specialists that you need. We will not train specialists for Poland. ” This is the position of our rector, that’s why we are working: new modern equipment and computer equipment are being purchased, scholarships are offered to encourage students with the participation of companies interested in preparing a modern IT specialist and their subsequent employment in these companies. This year, one of the IT companies offered a nominee scholarship to an entrant who had 200 points in an EIT certificate, with the offer not to go to Kiev for studying, but to study with us. He is currently a student of ZSTU and actively cooperates with this company. I am sure that they will take him to work later”

“Education is a process specific. I have three children, but they are all different. We are the same, we give them the same, we put the same cropped ones, but each child is different. All of them are endowed with certain specific features from nature, some of their own interests, views on life, perception of the world, the influence of society, environment. It is therefore difficult to analyze something in education”

“We have a family holiday. Our husband and I engaged in the Green holidays (Trinity), and every year, for the 21 year in a row, the whole family is going to be on that day. This is probably more of a holiday with our husband, but then our parents met. That’s how it happened. If at first it was 10-12 people, now it’s 20-25. We are going to the fire near the river, catch fish, cook something delicious, communicate. This is our chip”

“Always when I teach, I tell my students that you must first understand how to do something with your own hands, as an engineer, and only then use IT technology. How would we not trust computer technology, but the human brain is more capable. I always say that you can not do an automated system if you do not understand the physics of the process: what should be turned on, what should be turned off, how smoothly the regulatory process should take place. If you do not understand it yourself, then you will not do anything on the computer”

“I do not deny the fact that everybody will do the work. There is no such abrupt obstacle – everything can be realized, but I believe that mankind should manage the technique, not the technology of mankind”

“The world today is very IT-dependent, and the person suffers from that. We are worsening the memory, because we do not train it, we do not try to remember as much as we could before. Why remember the multiplication sign if we can use the calculator? Why remember the rules or look at the book if Word checks everything? Previously, we remember the phone numbers, and now there is a phone book in every smartphone. So man begins his own degradation. And in IT sphere there is degradation, only it is physical. Therefore, I always say that all IT schniks have to go to the gym, run, pump muscles, walk in nature”

“My husband constantly offers not to work, especially since now is a small child, but I can not sit at home. Of course, someone likes to do business, but I need communication, I love students. I can not imagine another life for myself. At home I do everything: I cook, I spend time with the children, we ride together somewhere, but I can not always stay at home. Work gives me reliability, I am not afraid of any nuances, I know that I can provide myself. I am a self-fulfilling woman, I have certain professional achievements and I like my job. I feel independent”

“My dissertation work was connected with the anti-terrorist system of protection of especially important objects under Euro-2012. Worked with airports, testing was carried out in Hungary, at the Budapest International Airport Ferihegy. When they launched their part, already after certification, they learned that the system was marked with the certificate “A”, which corresponds to the highest level of security. Of course, we were pleased”

“There were separate teachers in the graduate school, who believed that there was no place for women at all. But after seeing and working together, this thought disappeared. I had a girlfriend-blond girl, then she was generally inverted. Many tried to prove that the stereotype of blushes was a reality, but it fundamentally did not change the color of hair and provoked everything that could do more. She now holds a leading position at one of the universities, and the men who encounter her understand that they should not think stereotyped”

“When I was offered this post, I thought:” Here I am a woman, and a faculty of information and computer technologies. ” It is understandable that in my work stereotypes, once laid down, are working. But as a woman, I feel with my husband, and I can only tell him about my problems, and in the workplace I have no right to do so. Now in the structure of the faculty there are four departments, and they are run by two women and two men. We have a gender balance. It seems to everyone comfortable”

“I can not say that something in my life was given a heavyweight. No, but parents played a big role here. They helped us financially, and looked after the children, and they always shared with us what they could. This is our foundation from which we started. Much of what we have achieved – thanks to our parents. If they were not, we would not have what we have. I thank God that they have what is always next to them”

“It seems to me to be meaningless to live if you have no purpose. What’s the point? Every day the same thing? You know, when you create an automated system, you see what was, and then you are asked to change something. You think, project, do not sleep, think again, agree with the customer, model, pick up equipment. Everything was programmed. And there is such a moment of startup when you press the “red button”. And then you start to breathe … No, you stop breathing. And only you hear the beating of your heart. Close your eyes and press the button, and everything starts to work, and you get that pleasure! This is “oh” and “ah”! That’s the same way in life: if you have a goal, you have to go to it, even if it seems impossible!”

Translated by Aliona Matushevich