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The article examines the problems of the transition of modern Russia towards the formation of an innovative economy, with a special emphasis on the investigation of the key challenges that Russian universities face while training engineers equipped for innovative activities. The paper considers the impact of cultural characteristics of the Russian society on the organization and content of an education process in a technical university, on “producing” engineers capable of developing innovation. In our analysis we use a comparative approach, as well as the outcomes of the etnometric studies based on the method by G. Hofstede. The study presents the comparative analysis of the organization and content of engineering training at two universities representing Russia and the United States. The results of the study show that further productive development of the Russian system of engineering education towards integration with Western systems is possible provided that the value orientation of the Russian state and society is significantly revised.