KAZNU AND NPU RESEARCHERS EXPLORE JOINT PROJECTS IN MATERIALS SCIENCE, ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING AND AI

On 31 August 2026, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University hosted the international symposium “Materials Genome Engineering and Intelligent Science”, bringing together researchers from KazNU and Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), China.

The symposium opened with welcoming remarks by Professor Margulan Ibraimov, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation at Al-Farabi KazNU; Nurzada Beisen, Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Technology; and Professor Li Jinshan, Director of the Belt and Road Joint Laboratory.

At the Faculty of Physics and Technology, cooperation with NPU is being actively developed through the Department of Solid State Physics and New Materials Technology and the Department of Electronics and Astrophysics. Current areas of collaboration include materials science, additive manufacturing, electronics, unmanned systems, computational modelling and artificial intelligence.

A major focus of the symposium was advanced additive manufacturing. Professor Xiang Changshu, Head of Xi'an Sailong Additive Technology Co., Ltd., presented recent work on orthopaedic implants fabricated using electron beam powder bed fusion. The presentation addressed manufacturing approaches for metallic implants and methods for achieving the required structural and mechanical properties of the resulting materials.

The topic was further developed by Bauyrzhan Bazarbay, PhD, from KazNU’s Department of Solid State Physics and New Materials Technology. His presentation focused on the parameters of SLM-based 3D printing and subsequent heat treatment of the Ti–6Al–4V titanium alloy, with particular attention to their influence on the structure and properties of the manufactured material.

The potential biomedical applications of additive manufacturing were also discussed during the visit. NPU representatives visited KazNU’s Faculty of Medicine accompanied by members of the Faculty of Physics and Technology. The meeting focused on opportunities for interdisciplinary research combining materials science, additive manufacturing and medicine, including the development and application of 3D-printed titanium implants.

The symposium programme also covered research in electronics, aerospace systems, computational materials science and unmanned technologies.

Professor Tao Minglian, Vice Dean of the School of Electronics and Information at NPU, presented research on frequency management and radio-frequency interference mitigation in spaceborne synthetic aperture radar systems.

Professor Zheng Zebang of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at NPU discussed multiscale modelling of carbide-associated fatigue crack initiation in superalloys, focusing on the role of carbide inclusions in material degradation and failure.

Professor Yang Beiya of the School of Computer Science at NPU presented cooperative positioning technologies for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles operating in complex environments.

Representing KazNU’s Department of Electronics and Astrophysics, Dana Turlykozhayeva, PhD, presented a UAV-based monitoring system for main gas pipelines using FPGA/SoC platforms as well as deep and convolutional neural networks. The research combines embedded hardware solutions with artificial intelligence methods for automated monitoring and data analysis.

Researchers from KazNU’s Faculty of Information Technology also contributed to the symposium, presenting work related to digital and intelligent technologies.

The meetings provided an opportunity to identify specific areas for further joint work between research groups at the two universities. Discussions focused on new materials, additive manufacturing, electronics, artificial intelligence, unmanned systems and interdisciplinary projects involving relevant academic and research units at KazNU.