Mechanics in Natural Science and Technology

The aim of the Program is to introduce undergraduate and graduate students into modern problems of theoretical and applied mechanics.

The Program consists of basic interdisciplinary lectures, as well as practical courses, partially organized in collaboration with digital fabrication laboratory "Fab Lab Polytech". Students who are be able to come earlier, are welcome to participate in the Young scientists’ school-conference "Modern Ways in Mechanics" (MWM), which is held within the annual international conference "Advanced Problems in Mechanics" from June, 22 till June, 27.

During the Program the students will listen to lectures delivered by the specialists in the respective fields, attend seminars and gain practical skills in theoretical and applied mechanics.

Young scientists’ school-conference “Modern Ways in Mechanics” provides transfer of scientific experience from well-known scientists to their young colleagues.

The first lecture course will give general understanding of the notion of configurational forces in mechanics of solids. Students will study the boundary value problems statement for solids with propagating internal boundaries like phase boundaries or chemical reaction fronts and solution of simplest problems.

Students will gain pro-level skills in Wolfram Mathematica and basic-level skills in Wolfram language programming within the respective course.

As a result of the course on high-speed video shooting, students will learn how to use Fastec HiSpec 1, choose the correct mode and export the resulting video in the right format.

Within the course on Biomechanics, students will learn how to model muscle contraction and heat transfer in soft tissues, and get an insight into mechanical modeling of DNA replication process.

By the end of the week at “Fab Lab Polytech” students will have learnt how to use 3D-printers, laser and milling-machines, how to draw sketches and production chains, and how to finalize the drawings of the project basing on the technological capabilities of the equipment.

The cultural program includes:

• Boat city tour for students to get acquainted with the beauty of the city
• Excursion to the Hermitage, one of the world’s largest and oldest museums of fine art
• Visit to the “Baltika” Brewery where students can learn about the construction and logistic peculiarities of the plant
• Picnic at the seashore of the Gulf of Finland where students can enjoy Russian style barbecue
• Excursion to Pushkin, former tzar summer residence, famous for its palace and park ensemble. Students will visit one of the most beautiful palaces — Palace of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. The peak of this excursion will be a visit to the Amber Room reconstructed in 2003 (Optional, for extra price)

Good command of English. All classes and out-of-class activities are conducted in English. Knowledge of the Russian language is not required. Applicants are expected to have at least 2 year of University level studies. Basic knowledge of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics of Materials is recommended.

• June, 22 – June, 27: International Conference “Advanced problems in Mechanics”  

  During Young scientists’ school-conference “Modern Ways in Mechanics” (MWM) participants can communicate with young scientists from different countries. Due to the fact that the conference is taking place within the international conference “Advanced Problems in Mechanics”, young participants have the opportunity to share experience and exchange ideas with the scientists working in the same sphere.

• July, 3 – July, 7: Introduction to mechanics of configurational forces with applications to phase transformations and mechanochemistry (14 hours) 

  In this course the following topics will be addressed: examples of stress induced and stress-assist phase and chemical transformations; the Eshelby energy-momentum tensor and chemical affinity tensor in thermodynamics of phase boundaries and chemical reaction fronts; phase boundaries and chemical reaction fronts in boundary value problems for deformable solids undergoing phase and chemical transformations.

• July, 3 – July, 7: Wolfram Mathematica (12 hours) 

  This course introduces the core technologies needed to become an adept user of Mathematica, including the Wolfram Language, the notebook interface, programming fundamentals, visualization and interactivity features, and mathematics and statistics functionality. The course is for anyone who would like to become a proficient Mathematica user. This course is helpful for people with little experience with Mathematica and the Wolfram Language as well as for experienced users who would like to broaden their basic understanding of the system.

• July, 6 – July, 7: High-speed video and photomicrography (12 hours) 

  The course focuses on the use of high-speed video camera. This camera gives you an opportunity to visualize the processes that normally cannot be captured by the human eye due to their speediness.

• July, 10 – July, 14: Introduction to biomechanics (12 hours) 

  The aim of this course is to introduce to students the advanced dynamical problems of biomechanics and provide hands-on training on the analytical and numerical approaches. Lectures give insight into how mechanical knowledge can be implemented in biological science and illustrate different ways of analysis. This course also includes wide overlook of the various contemporary problems and methods of research applicable to state-of-the-art biodynamical problems.

• July, 10 – July, 14: Digital prototyping (12 hours)

  The course consists of two modules: “Digital manufacturing” and “Design and prototyping”, ending up with a personal project. Introduction is several design environments (AutoCAD, Compass, SolidWorks, InkScape etc), development environments (Arduino, Intel Iot IDE, Android) is offered, as well as how-tos in using hand tools and software for machine tool control (Ksliser, Match3, LaserWorks etc).