---
title: "Sikorsky KPI is training engineers for the future: from combat robots to underground cities"
description: "Sikorsky KPI is launching new programs in AI and robotics, training engineers for combat robots and the construction of underground infrastructure. Rector Anatoliy Melnychenko explained why the country critically lacks physicists and how the university cooperates with Boeing to train personnel. 🇺🇦🤖🏗️"
date: 2026-06-27T03:44:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/sikorsky-kpi-training-engineers-for-the-future-combat-robots-underground-cities
tags: []
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Sikorsky KPI is training engineers for the future: from combat robots to underground cities

![Student at Sikorsky KPI works on a project in the lab, creating future technologies — from robots to underground cities](https://xab.info/media/2026/06/27/kpi-imeni-sikorskogo-novye-programmy-ii-i-robototekhnika/kpi-imeni-sikorskogo-novye-programmy-ii-i-robototekhnika-1.webp)

The National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" (KPI) is radically transforming its educational landscape. In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, the university's rector, Anatoliy Melnychenko, stated that the institution is moving away from classical programs to train specialists capable of solving future challenges — from implementing complex artificial intelligence to rebuilding the country after the war.

### Artificial Intelligence: from theory to practice

Despite having more than 300 active educational programs, KPI is not resting on its laurels. The rector emphasizes that new fields of study are opening up in response to the rapid technological race. The main focus is not on the superficial use of generative AI, but on the deep scientific integration of technologies.

Programs teaching the application of artificial intelligence have already been launched in:

    - electronic communications;

    - materials science;

    - mechanics.

Among the innovative disciplines are visual computing technologies, computer vision for robots, and software engineering for gaming technologies.

### Robotics and security

Special attention at the university is paid to robotics, unmanned systems, and radio engineering. The scale of the changes is confirmed by the renaming of the Instrument Engineering Faculty to the Faculty of Robotic Systems and Instrument Engineering.

Anatoliy Melnychenko describes the spectrum of application for these technologies: from household assistants, such as robot vacuum cleaners, to critically important ground robotic complexes. The latter are designed to perform tasks in hazardous zones, for example, to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield instead of humans.

### Engineers for post-war reconstruction

Alongside high-tech fields, the university is opening programs focused on the physical reconstruction of the state. These are interdisciplinary fields at the intersection of electronics, computer engineering, and automation with computer vision. The program "Advanced Technologies and Materials in Aerospace Engineering" has also been updated.

Particular interest is shown in the new field of civil engineering, focused on the construction of underground infrastructure. According to the rector, the country urgently needs specialists capable of designing protected energy facilities, underground schools, and shelters that take into account modern security challenges.

### Synergy with business and labor shortage

KPI actively cooperates with Ukrainian and international corporations. In particular, together with Boeing, the university has opened a field of quantum computing and is upgrading laboratories. Hackathons and certification programs are conducted jointly with the business sector.

The labor market dictates its own conditions: businesses turn to the university not only for graduates but also for ready-made innovative solutions. This is due to an acute shortage of qualified personnel, exacerbated by migration processes. In this regard, the rector urges applicants to realistically assess their chances of admission to popular majors and pay attention to engineering fields where the probability of obtaining a state-funded place is higher.