Let there be light: TPU alumna on input on organizing Tokyo Olympics

TOMSK, Jul 23 – RIA Tomsk. Any Olympics is unthinkable without participants, but those who make it technically possible are also important. Irina Ovcharova, a TPU graduate, is one of them. She consults specialists who install lights for TV broadcasts at all the venues of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. More about Irina's work, Japan and studies at TPU in the review of RIA Tomsk.

Earlier it was reported that the Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo were to take place in the summer of 2020. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the competitions were postponed by a year. Now they will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021 without fans. The name of the Games – Tokyo 2020 – has been retained.

Dream job

Irina Ovcharova is a Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) graduate, who graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in "Optical Engineering" in 2010 and 2012, respectively. She started working in her specialty back in her third year of bachelor's degree – part-time at the department, after which she worked in a private company to develop lighting designs.

"I had a resume posted on HeadHunter after graduation. In the fall (2012), I got a call from the Sochi Olympics organizing committee offering me a position as a lighting specialist. It was a shock for me. I had never even dreamed of being a volunteer, and they called me for a job. But I initially refused", – says the interlocutor of the agency.

According to her, after the refusal the organizing committee of the Olympics did not abandon attempts to recruit Irina, convincing her that there are no such specialists as she, even in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and yet persuaded to pass the "entrance" tests, in particular in physics, English, as well as an interview with the leadership.

"I passed all the tests, and after I was so interested in all this that I agreed. I flew to Sochi for the Olympics. There was an international consultant there, who after the Olympics invited me to work for his company – EPC (Esteem Projects & Consultancy), which is based in London", – says Irina.

EPC is engaged in consulting in two areas: installation of structures and correct location of technical equipment such as cameras, lighting devices and audio systems and sports broadcast-lighting – setting up the "right" light for the athletes and cameras that broadcast video from arenas and stadiums to the whole world.

Ovcharova has been with the company since 2014. During that time, her work has taken her to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Pyeongchang, the European Games in Baku, the World Cup in Moscow and the Pan American Games in Lima.

"I have been in Tokyo since May. We do lighting consultancy for all the arenas and venues. We take measurements, make recommendations and give advice on how to achieve perfect lighting for the athletes and cameras. That's my job", – she added.

Irina was unable to provide photographs of the venues and the process of their work, as their publication is prohibited by the organizers before the opening of the Olympics (at 14.00 Moscow time).

Arigatou gozaimasu

"Tokyo is an insanely cool city. I was lucky enough to travel around Japan: I visited the Japanese Sumo championship, saw many temples in Kyoto, geishas, Japanese monkeys, visited the city of Nara, where tame deer stroll peacefully through the streets. I'm high on Japanese food, sushi here is nothing like in Russia. I don't think I'll eat sushi anywhere else after Japan", – Irina shares her impressions.

According to her, the Japanese are kind, very hard-working and diligent people who respect other people and their opinions, especially when the person you are talking to is higher in rank and an expert in some field: "They treat each other respectfully too, bowing all the time and saying "arigatou gozaimasu" (a more respectful and natural Japanese "thank you" than the usual "arigatou" more often used in conversation by random people – Ed.).

Despite the beauty of Tokyo, sooner or later Irina will have to leave it. The next projects, which are being developed by EPC, are the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022, the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, the Beach Soccer World Cup in Moscow in August of this year and others.

Dithyrambs to alma mater

Thinking back on her student years, Irina said that it was her parents who insisted that she should major in engineering. However, of all the technical, she chose a more or less creative – a bachelor's degree in "Optoelectronic devices and systems" (there at the last courses promised to teach lighting design) and a master's degree in "Lighting and light sources".

"Overall, the training gave fundamental technical knowledge, which helped in the future both in specialty and just in life. It was a lot of learning, as well as fun student life... I liked the training because the knowledge gained helps me in my work, and I can use it in practice", – the interlocutor said.

Irina's parting words to the applicants were as follows: "The most important thing is to work hard. There is no magic pill or button, which you push and everything will happen. The most important thing is your involvement in the process. If that's the case, you will achieve everything you desire. Set ambitious goals for yourself. Study, read a lot of literature, communicate with interesting and necessary people. There are no limits and frames, everything is possible and real! Take action!".

The educational program in the direction of "Optical Engineering" is aimed at preparing graduates for research and technological work in the field of laser technologies in industry and medicine, optical information technologies in the study and analysis of materials, as well as the development of new principles and methods of application of laser technology in the study of materials and products processing by radiation flows, in the production of LED light sources.