09/09/2025
Ideas, Technologies, Solutions: The First NIIK Meetup as a New Format for Professional Interaction
In the first week of September, NIIK held its first-ever event in the format of a meetup — a gathering where people unite around shared professional interests and tasks. For us, it was clear that this format was initiated by the divisions involved in process development, approaching problems from different angles.The scientific division of NIIK serves as a practical platform uniting chemical engineers: Laboratory No. 1 has expert knowledge of the chemical processes involved in urea production, while Laboratory No. 8 focuses on possibilities to extend equipment service life and minimize losses through diagnostic and repair work. Another part of it is the department of digital modeling of technological processes, whose employees are skilled in studying processes and systems based on mathematical models. The combination of theory and practice provides a foundation for developing new processes — in NIIK’s case, for the production of mineral fertilizers and many other chemical products.
If people work in the same company, why have a meetup?
Such meetings facilitate experience sharing, new ideas, discussions of problems, sharing of case studies and new projects, and presentations. These gatherings are especially important for employees of company divisions from different cities, as meetups offer a good opportunity to discuss common work tasks with colleagues face-to-face.
The first meetup presented current scientific tasks and developments, highlighted key digitalization trends, developed proposals for cooperation between science and project and technological divisions, and discussed plans for modernizing ammonia and urea production in Russia.
Oleg Drobotushchenko, CEO NIIK: The company organizing specialized meetups strengthens its status as an industry expert leader and increases its attractiveness to talented professionals. For professionals, this is a unique opportunity to personally exchange experience, objectively assess their own knowledge level and colleagues’ achievements, and discuss practical cases and current challenges. Additionally, meetups serve as an important stage for preparing and testing presentations before major specialized events such as the annual "Nitrogen. Mineral Fertilizers" conference organized by our company. This conference gathers leading specialists and developers in the industry, to whom we provide detailed information on the latest achievements and innovative solutions in NIIK’s technologies and services. Holding regular meetups not only confirms the company’s technological expertise but also contributes to improving operational efficiency and competitiveness of production units, which is a strategically important task for the institute’s development.