"Man of the Year of Vitebsk Region - 2023" Alexander Klyuev: "The team is very important"
More than 30 years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Much of its scientific, technical, and intellectual potential ended up in the territories of independent states. All residents of Novopolotsk knew that "Izmeritel" played a significant role in creating the USSR's space and military power, but only a few were aware of what exactly was happening in the workshops of the large plant.
Alexander Klyuev was one of those who participated in the implementation of grandiose scientific projects from the very first years of the enterprise's founding. The construction was initiated by the Moscow Research Institute of Measuring Equipment, where he worked by assignment. Alexander had met Novopolotsk earlier: his life partner was from the Verkhnedvinsk district, and their wedding took place near the young petrochemical city.
In the Soviet Union, the state provided priority housing to specialists willing to relocate for a new job. Having arrived in Novopolotsk in May 1979, Alexander moved into a new apartment by October.
The plant was focused on producing a wide range of products, thus requiring machine operators, designers, technologists (including those for microelectronic products), radio-electronic equipment adjusters, programmers, heads of leading departments, and other specialists. People came to the petrochemical city from all corners of the country.
– Interesting moments are associated with serious orders that were implemented in the workshops of "Izmeritel" starting from the mid-eighties. For example, we produced components that were part of the global satellite navigation system GLONASS. The first control system prototypes were developed in leading USSR institutes, and manufactured at our plant, – emphasized Alexander Klyuev.
The interlocutor noted that in 1987–1989, the production of the "Delta" super-minicomputer was mastered. It served as the basis for a specialized complex for collecting and processing telemetry information and controlling aerospace experiments. This product was used in the international "Vega – Halley's Comet" project. The processing of the obtained image was carried out using a machine made in Novopolotsk. In 1995, along with American and Japanese computers, ours was among the top three developments in the world, which indicates the level of technology of that period.
As Alexander Klyuev said, one of the buildings was constructed for the production of domestic magnetic recording equipment. "Izmeritel," using the tape drive mechanism of the Kyiv "Mayak" plant as a basis, improved it, mastered mass production, and ensured supplies to other enterprises. Based on the Novopolotsk plant, the two-cassette tape recorder "Karat" was developed and produced, which was in demand among the population.
– The fact that the plant yielded good results is the merit of the core team of specialists that was formed in the eighties, – Alexander Klyuev noted. – Some of that staff are still working today. The team is very important. If it had fallen apart in the nineties, it would be very difficult for us today. Incoming youth need to inherit much from our almost half-century of experience.