In the West, the engineering profession is among the most prestigious. Unfortunately, the Russian engineer can't boast of his image yet. The international Case-in championship, which started in Belgorod, was called upon to restore the former glory of the specialty.
This championship is a new word in engineering education. It is based on the so-called case study method. An engineering case is a practical task based on the actual production situation of a particular enterprise. On the one hand, this is a game method that young people like, on the other hand, it is a good opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge gained at the university, and at best even get a job. Anyway, the purpose of the event is to encourage young people to fully "immerse themselves" in their profession.
For the past four years, the organizers of the championship have been promoting business case technology in Russia, adapting this format for engineering specialties. Today, the engineering case, in addition to the mining sector, is beginning to be actively implemented in other sectors of the fuel and energy complex and industry.
In the meantime, the "Case-in" is the only official federal case championship in our country. Its national partners are a number of line ministries and departments, regional authorities and major employers.
According to S. V. Sergeev, head of the Department of Applied Geology and Mining at the National Research University "BelSU", this year the intellectual competitions of the championship are held in five areas – the so-called leagues: electric power industry, mining, geological exploration, oil and gas business and metallurgy.
The right to open the championship, or rather, its first direction, the mountain league, went to Belgorod State National Research University. This is because last year the team of this university became the winner of the mining championship. The team called "Bumblebee" included BelSU students Pavel Buslaev, Alexey Starostenko, Maxim Chehlaty and Yulia Gagarina.
This year, nine teams from BelSU are participating, each with four people. The participants were offered to find solutions to the problem of the Borisov coal mine in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, using their theoretical knowledge, technical and economic calculations and, of course, logic. The main evaluation criteria for the jury were the originality of the ideas and the economic validity of the submitted project.
– We got a solution to the problem of landfills. They only took ten days to complete the task," said Anastasia Protopopova, a member of the Titan team. – We suggested using reinforced concrete structures, which can be used to form internal greenhouses under the landfills and grow some kind of crop in them, for example, mushrooms. Another option is to use asphalt concrete pavement, which can be used for road transport competitions, in particular karting. The option of landfill reclamation was also taken into account.
In total, 77 qualifying stages will be held within the framework of the championship. Over the course of four months, intellectual battles will take place at the sites of 37 participating universities. More than five thousand students of specialized universities will compete for a ticket to the finals of the championship, which will traditionally be held in Moscow at the end of May. BelSU students Vladislav Malygin, Polina Romanchenko, Dmitry Ushakov and Andrey Manuylov had the opportunity to represent our region again this year.
Author: A. MOROZOVA