Day two in Moscow started with the sun shining through the windows. Whilst some were already woken by the rising sun, others were abruptly interrupted from their recovering night of sleep by the sound of their alarms. Today was the day of our first company visit, so we could finally suit ourselves up. That big fabric bag that always managed to be in the way when I needed something from my suitcase finally came of use. Whilst some were struggling to put on their suits and to put a decent knot in their ties I already took a glimpse at our breakfast. Our breakfast consisted of omelettes and sausages stored in plastic boxes and pieces of bread and a decent desert (a little box of yoghurt that was actually made in Holland) on the side. After microwaving the food boxes it tasted surprisingly good for a Russian breakfast, but our standards might have been lowered by the breakfast we had gotten used to in Saint Petersburg.
After everyone had finished suiting up and eating their breakfast we gathered outside of the hostel to wait for the bus. It was actually nice to see everyone decently suited and not looking like a group of annoying tourists. Even the bus driver thought we looked like a group of rich foreigners as turned out by the phone call he made. Anton overheard him calling his boss and angrily complaining about the old bus he had to take with him that did not match the group of passengers it had to carry. He was kind of ashamed he had to take us in that old thing, but we were quite happy with it, as it took us through the busy streets of Moscow to Mikron, the largest chip manufacturer in Russia.
When we arrived at Mikron, after a one hour drive, we met two enthusiastic men who would guide us through their company. To enter the building we had to show our passports, as they wanted to know who was inside their building and what they were doing at any time. This was also apparent from the fact there were cameras in every part of the building meaning everyone was under observation. No one was allowed to take pictures inside, so we were advised to not even try that. Before we got to the interesting part we had to put on plastic bags over our shoes and put on a special coat, to keep the place as clean as possible. So that was where our nice suits disappeared under a layer of fabric.
Inside the building we got to visit two parts of the company: the clean room and the manufacturing line. In the clean room both 180nm and 90nm microchips are produced. These chips are used for several purposes. As Mikron is the biggest chip manufacturer in Russia, it plays an important role in several governmental applications of chips. For example, Mikron produces all chips for Russian passports, transportation cards in several parts of Russia, banking cards, hospital wristbands for patients, licence plates and badges for big events like the Olympic games in 2014 and the World Championships of soccer in 2018. This amounts to a total production quantity of about 1 million chips per day. Their largest production is the manufacturing of transportation cards, for example for the Moscow metro lines, with a total volume of 300 million cards per year. All cards are produced and assembled by Mikron at the manufacturing line. The production of chips for banking cards is done by only 8 companies across the world, since the encryption and safety features are quite complex, so that is quite a thing. Not even Intel has the equipment to do it!
After the tour through the company we gathered to make a nice group photo. Next we went to the canteen, that looked very familiar, since most of the canteens of the universities we visited earlier had about the same choice of food. In these canteens it becomes clear that lunch is often the main meal for Russians. There is lots of choices and loads of food being ready to be served, like salads, drinks, soups, fresh vegetables, potatoes, rice and pieces of meat. As always it tasted very good.
When our stomachs were filled again, we got back in the bus to return to our hostel. Whilst some of us had a quite interesting view of the inside of their eyelids, others enjoyed the views of Moscow and its busy streets. Six lane streets (per direction and excluding bus lanes) are not uncommon, but still the roads were completely filled with cars. Also, we got a taste of the multicultural society in Russia, with large numbers of illegal immigrants from Azerbaijan working on the roads and the sidewalks. Apparently someone decided that the complete city of Moscow had to be rebuilt all at once. Probably it has something to do with the World Championships next year. Luckily we heard that Russians, and consequently the illegal immigrants, never heard of efficient labour so they will not be finished before that deadline.
The rest of the day we had free time again, so after everyone had suited down and had some rest at the hostel, we split into small groups and went into the city. We took the metro to the city centre and had a walk around the Kremlin and the red square, which was surprisingly not red, but grey. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the view and the famous Pokrov cathedral. After we had a nice meal we took the metro to have a look at several of Moscow’s beautiful metro stations and after that we went back to the hostel to have a good night’s rest to be fit for tomorrow. I hope everyone has a good night of sleep, or whatever their priority might be, at this hour of the day.
– Niels Valckx