Real-Time Satellites and AI-Powered Drones: New Projects at Kozybayev University

As part of a working visit to the North Kazakhstan Region, Vice Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Malik Olzhabekov visited Kozybayev University.

During the visit, he ознакомился with the university’s IT infrastructure and digital transformation projects.

Chairman of the Executive Board - Rector Yerbol Issakayev spoke about the university’s activities and its transformation into a research university. Today, Kozybayev University is implementing several major scientific projects, including initiatives in artificial intelligence and digital technologies. Strategic partnership with the University of Arizona is becoming a springboard for breakthrough research in the polymerization of elemental sulfur, water resource studies, and food security.

The GIS technologies laboratory trains specialists and conducts research in remote sensing of the Earth. The university is equipped with industrial fixed-wing quadcopters and training drones. Its partner in this area is Geoscan Kazakhstan. The Vice Minister was presented with a joint project developed in collaboration with the company to establish a Space Monitoring Center at the university with the installation of a compact antenna system in the region.

The center will enable students to interact with satellites in real time, receive and process data, and eventually develop their own nanosatellites. These initiatives will strengthen graduates’ competencies and help train highly demanded specialists for the national space industry.

In turn, Malik Olzhabekov emphasized the importance of developing domestic unmanned aerial vehicles at Kazakhstan’s universities:

“It is important for us to advance science and focus on drone research, including the use of artificial intelligence. For students, this will become an excellent opportunity to gain skills ranging from design to the development of circuit boards and software.”

The Vice Minister was also introduced to student projects created within the framework of Tomorrow School, including an AI legal assistant for inmates — providing equal, secure, and controlled access to up-to-date legal information in correctional institutions through video payphones — and an intelligent road accident map designed to identify hazardous road sections and generate recommendations for responsible authorities based on traffic accident analysis.