Professor Alexander Anatolevich Minayev, Doctor of Technical Sciences (Metallurgy) was born on 17 July 1942 in Serov, Sverdlovsk region of Russia, in the then Soviet Union in the family of engineer metallurgists. In 1943, the family left the Sverdlovsk region to settle in the Donbas region, in Donetsk, after the liberation of the city. He completed his education in the then Donetsk Polytechnic Institute (DPI) by obtaining an engineering metallurgist degree in 1964, and then commenced his engineering practice in a metallurgy factory. Upon completion of a graduate programme in 1969, he became an assistant in the Faculty of Metallurgy at the DPI, thereby commencing his academic career. He completed his doctoral dissertation in 1985, and later became a full Professor. On 30 December 1989, he was elected Rector of the DPI by resolution of the Institute Senate. In August 1993, the DPI was granted the status of a technical university by the National Cabinet of Ukraine, and renamed Donetsk State Technical University (DonSTU), which was changed to Donetsk National Technical University (DNTU) in 2001.

Our association with Professor Minayev goes back to the early 1990’s. In 1995, Professor Minayev appointed the UICEE Director as Honorary Dean of the English Engineering Faculty of the DonSTU. Since then, Professor Minayev and his staff became actively involved in the life of the then UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education (UICEE), based at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Numerous joint initiatives were established under the patronage of Professor Minayev. In the context of those activities, he attended several international meetings organised/co-organised by the UICEE, where he presented research papers on engineering and technology education, some of them as keynote addresses. In this area of activity, his contribution to engineering and technology education was recognised by numerous best conference paper awards, including the 4th World Conference on Engineering Education, held in Minneapolis/St Paul, USA, in 1995; the 3rd East-West Congress on Engineering Education, held in Gdynia, Poland, in 1996; and the Global Congress on Engineering Education, held in Kraków, Poland, in 1998, to name a few. At the Congress in Kraków, Professor Minayev was awarded the UICEE Silver Badge of Honour for his distinguished contributions to engineering education and outstanding achievements in the globalisation of engineering education.

In May/June 1996, as part of the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the DonSTU, in conjunction with the UICEE, the University organised an International Seminar on Engineering Education. At that time, it was decided that a so-called UICEE satellite centre on engineering education would be established at the DonSTU. Under this arrangement, the University became a contributing member of the UICEE, and Professor Minayev joined the Editorial Advisory Board of the Global Journal of Engineering Education (GJEE).

Professor Minayev’s exceptional achievements were recognised by numerous international and local honours and awards. Based on his vast professional experience, Professor Minayev became an international and national power house of engineering and technology education, a role not easy to replicate and continue at the same level of passion and commitment. With his passing away, on 26 October 2021, at the age of 79, in Donetsk, Ukraine, the engineering and technology education community has lost an exceptional engineer, academic and educator, and we lost a loyal and dedicated collaborator, and an amicable colleague and friend.

We wish to offer our sincere condolences to his grieving wife Irina and the family.

Farewell Alexander, we will always remember you!

The photograph shows the late Professor Minayev addressing the International Seminar on Engineering Education, held at the DonSTU in 1996.