“Scientific interests are very successfully intertwined with professional and even commercial ones”: Timur Imomnazarov, RUDN University graduate

Who did you want to be as a child?

I never considered anything except construction. I spent all my childhood in a remote village with my grandmother. And there I had to remodel, repair and build something from time to time. I am sure that such a lifestyle influenced the choice of my future profession.

How did you decide to enter RUDN University?

Thanks to my sister. She studied engineering here and defended her Ph.D. My sister talked a lot about studying here, and I was so inspired by her stories that I only thought about RUDN University. Once, when I came to visit her and saw the university with my own eyes, I realized that this is my place. Then I was struck by the scale and internationality of the campus!

At the university, you published more than 20 scientific papers, participated in conferences in the Netherlands, Turkey, and Germany. Tell us about your first article.

I wrote it in my first year of undergraduate studies. It was published in the Bulletin “Engineering Research”, after which I went to a conference in Yoshkar-Ola. Marina Rynkovskaya played an important role in my scientific activity, for which I am very grateful to her.

How did scientific activity help in professional development?

Back at the university, I became interested in innovative materials, in particular, composite ones. Later, thanks to Evgeny Sinichenko, I became interested in hydraulic structures and was engaged in research in the field of hydraulics. Now my company supplies materials for hydraulic structures, so scientific interests are very successfully intertwined with professional and even commercial ones.

In 2018, you founded the “First Composite Company”. Why did you decide to focus on composites?

During my studies, I noticed a certain need for the composite industry in Russia. Today we develop materials and create products that no one else in the world makes except us. Due to the properties of composite materials, we increase the operational life of objects by decades.

What do you consider the main achievement?

We are one of the leaders in the composite industry. We have a full production cycle and our own research laboratory. Today, it employs two PhD’s and several RUDN University postgraduate students. One of our main achievements is the non-removable formwork made of fiberglass concrete, which has already been used in the construction of three traffic interchanges with an area of more than 40,000 square meters. Our innovative product has significantly reduced the construction time, which we are proud of.

During your student years, you were a member of the RUDN cross-country skiing team. How did you start skiing?

I began to ski still at a village school. When I came to RUDN University, I was surprised how developed skiing is here. In my first year of university, I was accepted into RUDN team. I remember this moment very well: I don’t have a ski category, in I don’t have skis or a uniform, but I’m in the university team. Together with the team, we then went to competitions. Once I represented the university at an international tournament in Belarus. At the university I received the second category in cross-country skiing. Now I continue to ski, but it’s a hobby.

Who is inspiring you today?
 

Noza, my daughter. She was born quite recently, and now she is my main inspiration. Life turns over at the moments of our communication and I am having the lime of my life!

What are you dreaming about?

To give everyone the opportunity to get an education...

Are student years the best?

Definitely! This is a carefree time when you can try yourself in everything, make mistakes and learn from them. At this time, the main concern is study, tests and exams. And I would become a student again for the sake of friends, teachers and the atmosphere of student life.

What advice can you give students?
 

Don’t waste time. Do not think that there is a lot of it, because it flies very quickly. Now is the best time to decide what you really want to do in life...