Coinciding the Second National Conference on Gas Turbines,

  IUST's Gas Turbines Research Center

 The gas turbines research facility opened on Tuesday May 28, 2013 in Iran University of Science and Technology.

 The MOU for establishing the gas turbines research facility was signed during the First National Conference on Gas Turbines, held last year May 2012.

 The two day second national conference on gas turbines was held in IUST's Imam Khomeini Cultural Complex, and attended by many people including Dr. Mahdi Nezhad, deputy minister of Science, Research and Technology, Dr. Mohammad Reza Moghaddam, deputy minister of Oil and Gas, Engineer Ali Karimian, Director of Iran's Aviation Industries Organization, the Ministry of Oil and Gas consultant, Mr. Javad Oji, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), and a group of experts in the field of gas turbines. The conference held five workshops, in addition to hosting an exhibition of thirty companies active in the field of gas turbines.

 Dr. Taghavi Zanoz, conference moderator and chair to the School of Mechanical Engineering, made the opening remarks with a brief overview of measures taken from last year's Gas Turbines conference, and an outline of what is to follow in the current conference. "The charter for establishing the Gas Turbines Research Center has been formulated, and will open today," he stated. Dr. Taghavi Zanoz emphasized the importance of the Atf Council's recent delegation of the national 150-180 seating capacity Jet developments to IUST.

 IUST chancellor Dr. Jabal Ameli spoke next, welcoming and thanking all guests for their participation in the national conference. Dr. Jabal Ameli praised the School of Mechanical Engineering for their latest technological achievements, adding, "The entry of universities into grand national projects has been among the recent year's greatest achievements. While ten years ago the cooperation of universities with the industry was quite limited, today however, we see a great improvement in university research on a national scale."

 Dr. Jabal Ameli urged the industry to take greater steps and larger risks in the country's industry, especially now that universities have five to twenty year research missions, "Statistics show that universities have been successful in the fields of technology. University research has been productive and will continue to succeed towards further investments."

 IUST currently has 1200 PhD students, 10% of which are in the School of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Jabal Ameli called this a golden opportunity to solve 120 problems of industry, "Such potential should not be overlooked, and can lead to finding solutions to the missing link."

 Dr. Mahdi Nezhad, deputy minister of Science, Research and Technology, discussed recent developments in the Gas Turbines Research Center and the Passenger Jet Airplane. "Human resources have thrived in recent times," he proposed, "mainly due to new efforts by students and faculty."

 Dr. Mahdi Nezhad referred to the budget increase set towards executing national projects in the following year as an opportunity for the "establishment of further research centers in universities to create solidarity in all areas of research."

 Dr. Mohammad Reza Moghaddam, deputy minister of Oil and Gas, also touched upon the importance of gas turbines in the oil and gas industry, "turbines are among the most important equipments in the oil industry, which are effective both in the transfer and production of power. The oil industry is dependent on turbo compressors and turbo pumps for the transfer of gas and oil products."

 Since the time research for the oil industry was conducted in the form of product-oriented and problem solving units, universities and research centers have had major roles in the transformation of this industry.

 Mr. Javad Oji, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) also gave a brief overview regarding the conducted activities in the country's design and build of gas turbines, adding, "Given the need the country's oil industry has to these complicated equipments and the country's available potential, there is a bright future for the design and build of national turbines." He referred to their company's contract with the OTC and Mopna companies for building 200 turbo compressors, and added, "So far these companies have succeeded in the building of forty turbo compressor devices, and a greater part of the turbo compressors are built from national parts. The NIGC will be supporting these activities in all ways possible."

 Mr. Ali Karimian, director of Iran's Aviation Industries Organization was the final speaker at this conference, and he spoke about the developments of air turbine propellants in the near future. In a reference to the previous year's development and approval of air and space comprehensive documents, the engineer sees the Semat, Mopna, and the Oil Turbo Compressor companies among the countries top for building turbine engines. He also discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the industry and suggested methods which would improve it.

 The talks ended with a commendation ceremony, appreciating the works of those involved in the national project.