OMIRZHAN BAIKONUROV
He graduated from primary school in the Kazakh village. In 1931-1932 he studied at the school (factory school), specialty drilling foreman. Specialists of the enterprise were invited to conduct classes in the school, among them was the future first president of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR KI Satpayev - while the chief geologist of the plant. The meeting with this remarkable man determined the main activities of Baykonurov. In Karsakpae, working at the factory, he continued his studies at school. In 1933, he worked as a draftsman-designer of the machine shop in Shymkent lead plant.
On K.Satpaev's recommendation the Party Committee of Shymkent lead plant directed Baykonurov to study in Alma-Ata in 1934, where he studied at the preparatory courses, and then he entered the Kazakh Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (now the Kazakh National Technical University named after K.I.Satpaev), and graduated in June 1940 with a degree in development of mineral deposits.
O. Baikonur began his working career on the construction of Karsakpay copper smelter - firstborn ferrous metallurgy of the USSR. From 1927 to 1930 he worked as a carpenter's apprentice in the construction Karsakpay copper smelter. In 1932-1933 years under the leadership of K.I Satpaeva he worked as senior collector at the Geological Survey of Karsakpay medkombinat. After graduation, O. Baikonur received direction in the native Zhezkazgan. He started his career as shift foreman, he passed all stages of administrative and engineering activities. Until 1941, he worked as a shift supervisor at the mine number 31, head of mines № 32, № 13. In November 1943,he was appointed head of mine office "31-32", where he worked until 1952.
In October 1952, O. Baikonur was appointed director of the Kazakh Mining and Metallurgical Institute, after the reorganization of the Institute in 1960, he worked as the rector until 1962 . In May 1962 he was elected academician of Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR and at the same time - an academician-secretary. In 1964 he was transferred to the Kazakh Polytechnic Institute, where he worked until the end of life as head of the department "Technology and complex mechanization of the development of mineral deposits". During this period, considerable difficulties developed with the formation of student-Kazakhs from rural areas, since the entrance examinations were conducted in Russian. After the first exam - dictation entrants-Kazakhs virtually had no choice. Despite the desperate resistance of some leading educators O. Baikonurov changed the rules of admission to the Institute for Kazakh youth entrance examinations were conducted on native language. This allowed them to get an opportunity to study in a leading technical university of the Kazakh Republic. This innovation is far ahead of the reorganization of higher education of a sovereign state, which is being implemented in the educational process in all universities of the country.
Construction of a new campus began on the initiative of the Director and the support of relevant federal and republican ministries and departments. O. Baikonur showed unprecedented persistence, perseverance and consistency in all phases of construction, from design and ending with project commissioning. As a result, in record time the modern campus with housing for teachers, dormitories, academic buildings and a separate dining hall had been build. Academic councils on candidate and doctoral dissertations were organized. It is helped to improve the quality of training and scientific-pedagogical staff. It is an invaluable contributions of Baykonurov.
O. Baikonurov as a professional mining engineer, has made a significant contribution to the development and updating of all production processes, ranging from brown-blasting and improving the system design for different conditions of occurrence and the capacity of the ore business.
In 1962, on President KazSSR K. Satpayev's recommendation Professor O. Baikonurov after the successful completion of elections in academics was elected a member and Academician-Secretary of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR. Once again he began the strenuous days of work in a leading scientific organization of the republic. K. Satpayev's companion O. Baikonurov actively engaged in the construction of the Irtysh-Karaganda canal, industrial centers: Karaganda, Ekibastuz, Dzhezkazgan, Temirtau, Balkhash, the major mines in Shetskom, Karagaylinskom areas, oil fields in Mangyshlak peninsula. Work with Kanysh Imantayevich was a great happiness for Baykonurov. He said: "Anyone who has ever met Satpayev leaves him vanquished his spiritual purity, his humanity, his sincerity, his bright mind, his charm!"
Academician O. Baykonurov and his students firstly introduced the use of control of physical and mechanical properties of rocks seismic, ultrasonic, optical, nuclear and other physical methods.
The scientist was constantly busy with new theoretical problems. Pinnacle of his activity is the creation of a unified classification and methodology for selecting how to develop mineral deposits. In 1969 he published a monograph "The classification and selection of methods of underground mining of ore deposits. He was the first who described it in the book and presented in the Mountain Encyclopedia.
In the research institute of mining under the direction of O. Baykonurov laboratory Mountain Geophysics, dynamic photoelasticity were established . Studying the properties of the array through the study of physical fields, fields of static and dynamic stresses that arise in the production of mining operations, allows the correct choice of safe and effective parameters of technological processes.