From the Classroom Straight to a Career: Engineering Education Moves Into Mixed Reality With Fast Projection
Graduate researchers in Moscow are developing virtual, augmented, and mixed reality simulators designed to make the training of future engineers more effective and practice-oriented.
Knowledge Beyond the Page
Young scientists in Russia are increasingly proposing strong, applied projects across a wide range of fields. One such example is a project developed by Stanislav Verzilin, a graduate researcher at JSC “Military-Industrial Corporation NPO Mashinostroyeniya,” together with graduate students Danil Makarenkov and Ilya Kazaku from Bauman Moscow State Technical University. Their solution challenges the conventional logic of engineering education. Their project, Fast Projection, is a set of training simulators based on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, where complex technical disciplines stop being a collection of abstract diagrams and formulas and instead become interactive, experiential environments.
At the core of the project is an attempt to address one of the most pressing challenges in higher technical education: how to reduce the gap between theory and practice. Today, students often graduate with knowledge that remains “on paper,” while real-world skills are developed only after entering the workforce. Fast Projection proposes a different model – shifting the emphasis from passive learning to active engagement with interactive technical models.
“Our country has a clear need to develop its own equipment and technological solutions. This creates enormous opportunities for young scientists,” says Elena Druzhinina, Managing Director for Science and Business Cooperation at Rostec.
Designed for Real Learning, Not Demonstration
From the outset, Fast Projection was conceived not as a showcase technology, but as a component of the formal educational process. The planned pilot deployment is intended to demonstrate how MR and VR simulations can be embedded directly into academic curricula. At the first stage, the team is considering pilot testing at Bauman Moscow State Technical University within the B2G segment. Partner institutions include innovation-focused universities that are prepared to integrate new learning formats into their academic programs. In parallel, the team is developing a B2B strategy, where large technology corporations have shown interest in using the simulators for training and retraining engineering personnel.
The team’s first product is a simulator for descriptive geometry and engineering graphics. It allows users to change part configurations, perform cross-sections, analyze shapes, and study spatial relationships between components. This offers a new approach to spatial reasoning and technical drawing. The program also enables users to practice assembly, disassembly, and equipment maintenance using hand gestures. This format lowers the entry barrier for complex subjects and makes learning more visual and intuitive, especially at early stages of training.
Industry-Driven Demand
Interest in digital simulators within education continues to grow. Medical and chemical universities have introduced virtual laboratories where students can practice complex procedures without risk or the need for consumable materials. At the same time, there is a strengthening trend toward applied digital competencies – simulations, modeling, and work with digital twins are increasingly being incorporated into academic curricula.
A separate and important direction is the involvement of graduate students and early-career researchers in real industrial tasks. The model of industrial postgraduate training has encouraged projects in which universities and enterprises collaborate on concrete products rather than abstract research topics.
At young scientist forums, VR and AR modeling is increasingly discussed as a tool capable of bringing education closer to real-world conditions. Against this backdrop, Fast Projection appears not as an isolated experiment, but as a continuation of established trends, with a specific focus on engineering disciplines.
A Broader Contribution
Fast Projection demonstrates how mixed reality technologies can be applied systematically in education rather than as one-off experiments. The project is designed from the start to fit into academic curricula and focuses on the practical application of knowledge, making it suitable for scaling – both within universities and in corporate training environments, where rapid mastery of complex technical processes is critical.
Following pilot deployment at Bauman Moscow State Technical University in the fall of 2026, the project may expand beyond a single institution. The team is considering broader implementation at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Lomonosov Moscow State University. This phase is expected to test how flexibly the simulators can adapt to different educational formats and engineering school requirements.
In the longer term, Fast Projection opens the door to the creation of virtual factories and laboratories, where training is built around practical scenarios and sequential operational tasks.
“In today’s world, technological innovation plays a key role in solving many global challenges,” says Elena Druzhinina. “These include climate change, energy security, and public health. Young people see these professions as an opportunity to make a real contribution to improving the world.”
