ODESSA NATIONAL ACADEMY OF COMMUNICATIONS
The
first sitting of Odessa District Committee was held in the Courses building.
V.F. Didrikhson, a prominent lecture and electrical engineer, and E.A.
Bukhgaim, future professor of the Institute, were the members of that
Committee.
At
the Congress of Railway Electrical Engineers and Telegraph Authorities, which
took place in Odessa (1897), it became evident that electrical engineering of
weak currents had revealed a great number of problems worth separate scientific
investigation. A.S. Popov’s demonstration of wireless telegraph operating at
the Congress became weightly argument on behalf of such investigation and
aroused public enthusiasm and standing ovation.
Some
private radio and telegraph stations accomplished practical needs in
communication in Odessa during the Revolution and Civil War period.
In
1919 all that few stations were reorganized into Odessa State Radio and
Telegraph Plant (ORTP in Sofievskaya Str.), the first one in Russia.
The
Radio laboratory scientific consultants were Professor L.I. Mandelshtam and
Reader N.D. Papalsky, both future academicians of world fame.
In
1923 ORTP stopped its independent functioning. The same year in the building of
former Higher Telegraph Mechanics Courses educational process was renewed but
that time it was named after former Ukrainian Minister of Education Grinko and
was called Odessa Higher Strong Currents Electrotechnical School (OHES).
OHES
graduates gained their engineer qualification in the course of four-year
training. In 1925 at High Electrotechnical School there was organized Weak
Currents Department having three small groups of telegraphists, telephonists
and radio operators. Since then Odessa had begun training engineers of
communications and the first official graduates appeared in 1925.
In
the course of educational reform provided in autumn 1929 Odessa Higher
Electrotechnical School became Electrotechnical Department of Odessa
Politechnical Institute (OPI).
Next
year in according with the USSR Government Resolution (4/237 of July 23, 1930)
the Electrotechnical Department was singled out into Odessa Communication
Engineers Institute with the first graduates in 1931.
C.D. Yasinovskiy, Dean of Electrotechnical Department, was appointed the
Director of OCEI.
Two
buildings were given to the new educational institution, i.e. the building of
former Higher Telegraph Mechanics Courses (Higher Electrotechnical School) and
two-storey school building in 61 Komsomolskaya Str.
During
the Institute formation great work was being done for the Red Army needs, viz.
radio equipment was being designed and produced under the guidance of 1931-year
graduate S.M. Plakhotnik, future the USSR Deputy Minister of Communications and
the USSR State Prize winner. The USSR Deputy Minister of Defense M.M.
Tukhachevskiy personally supervised the work.