AiF Kazan: how can students and young engineers accelerate their careers

Brilliantly solving the most difficult production tasks, completing internships in well–known companies, and starting a successful career right from the student's bench are not fantastic or empty dreams. It gives such opportunities to young people International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN" is a project of the Russia – the Land of Opportunities platform.

AiF – Kazan found out who participates in the championship and what prospects open up for young talents after the victory.

More than medals and cups

The CASE-IN Championship has been held since 2013. Since 2019, the project has been included in the presidential platform. "Russia is a land of opportunity", created on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin. For several years now, teams from four Tatarstan universities have been competing in the championship: Almetyevsk State Petroleum Institute (AGNI), Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University (KFU), Kazan State Energy University (KGEU) and Kazan National Research Technological University (KNRTU – KHTI). KFU and AGNI are among the top five in the ranking of universities in the field of the championship "Oil and Gas business".  KGEU has won prizes in the Energy of Education competition for three years in a row. In 2021, this university was awarded special awards "Energy of Education" for organizing the best CASE-IN selection stage in universities. Almetyevsk State Petroleum Institute is a three-time winner of the Energy of Education competition in 2017 and 2018 and in 2021.

"Four leading universities of the region participate in the CASE-IN championship in Tatarstan, and the students of these universities are among the strongest in the country., – noted Artyom Korolev, founder and co-chairman of the International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN". – The guys from Almetyevsk Oil and Gas University twice became bronze medalists in the field of "Oil and Gas business", their fellow oilmen from KFU won silver and bronze.  KGEU is among the top ten in the field of "Electric Power Industry", and KNRTU gave the championship silver medalists in petrochemistry in the "Digital Transformation" season.

"The university's participation in the CASE-IN championship is an important stage in the process of becoming a young person, a future graduate, and a professional in their field, - shared his opinion Rector of KSEU Edward Abdullazyanov. – And there is a fairly simple explanation for this - the dynamics of scientific and technological progress often outstrips the knowledge gained in the process of professional training of engineers already at the stage of their training. Solving real practical cases makes it possible to fruitfully prepare students for their future professional activities."

The organizers of the championship, together with the enterprises of the fuel and energy complex, prepare cases every year that the teams will have to solve. They are sent to the guys 10 days before the qualifying stage. The cases describe thematic production tasks. So, this year the case in the field of "Oil and Gas business" was developed based on the materials of PJSC Tatneft. The teams created a project on the use of industrial gases to increase oil recovery and reduce the carbon footprint – reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere during the development of an oil field.

"Today, the entire fuel and energy complex, and PJSC Tatneft, in particular, is interested in identifying erudite young talented people to solve modern problems., – he said at the award ceremony for the winners of the championship Evgeny Gavrilov, Head of the Department of Corporate Culture and Youth Policy Development at the Human Resources Department of PJSC Tatneft. – The championship provides something more than medals and cups: it is the development of flexible skills, strategic and creative thinking, and the ability to work in a team. All these qualities will be very useful to you in the future."

The Tatneft team has been participating in the championship for several years. She is the winner of the Cup of the championship winners, the gold medalist of 2018. Back then, the engineering cases were devoted to the topic "Arctic development", they were related to the development of deposits on the Arctic shelf. The assignment provided detailed characteristics of this territory and specific conditions. It was necessary to propose a solution that could be implemented as efficiently as possible, including from an economic point of view.

«There are several evaluation criteria: economics, technology, innovative solutions, the level of preparation of the presentation and answers to experts' questions., - explains young specialist of Tatneft company, multiple participant and winner of the League of Young Specialists of the championship Daniyar Oktyabrev. – Our four-person team first analyzed all available information on the proposed topic, including foreign information. Then, having distributed the roles, we prepared our solution, having worked out the technical, technological and economic parts of the project. So, we proposed to completely abandon the traditional method of field development in order to reduce the share of human influence to 90-95%. Automate management to such an extent that artificial intelligence decides where and what measures to take to improve the efficiency of field development and operation. Our calculations have proven that this will significantly reduce economic costs."

Less harmful emissions, more oil

This year, Daniyar participated in the championship as an expert of the Student League.  His company offered a case study on reducing CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions into the atmosphere during the development of an oil field. Solving this problem is one of the priorities in the world. This is the Sustainable Development Goal announced by the United Nations. According to the terms of the case, a conventional thermal power plant was located near the field, which emitted several industrial gases, including CO2. To reduce emissions, the participants of the championship proposed various solutions, including injecting CO2 or nitrogen into the oil-bearing reservoir in order to displace oil in this way and extract it.

One of the teams that reached the finals were representatives of KFU, led by the bronze medalist of the 2020 championship. By Alexey Kozlov. It was his third time competing in the championship. Three years ago, I gathered a team with my friends and participated in the qualifying championship held at the university. In 2020, Alexey's team took the third place in Russia, having developed its own solution for a project dedicated to the transportation and processing of natural gas.

How to recycle waste

The general theme of this year's championship was "Sustainable development". SIBUR, the partner of CASE-IN, also has its own sustainable development strategy, calculated until 2025. It includes environmental care, environmental development, affordable education opportunities, and employee employment. SIBUR is a partner of the competition in two leagues – School and Student. He offers cases, provides experts, provides career guidance to schoolchildren, offers internships, internships, and employment to students. 

"This year, the guys looked at the products we produce: polypropylene, polyethylene and others – from the point of view of how they can influence the principles of sustainable development., – explains SIBUR expert Oksana Mustafina. – For example, what can be made from the same plastic cup so that it can be used repeatedly. Many products made of polymers can be reused: they can be recycled and become raw materials for some other products. For example, paint packaging may include up to 40% recycled plastic in the raw materials from which it was produced. Thus, plastic is recycled many times and does not pollute the environment. Recycling, of course, is more economically feasible than just a single use. It makes the production process cheaper."

The strongest, according to Oksana Mustafina there were those projects whose authors proposed not only technology, but also analyzed the project's marginality. For example, we calculated a business plan for the introduction of a product into the recycling cycle over a five-year period. The company has taken note of a couple of projects that it may use in the future.

A window into the world

The selection stage of the "CASE-IN" in the field of "Electric Power Industry" has been held at KGEU since 2015. This year, for the first time, the university organized a championship in two more areas.: "Project Engineering" and "Digital Atom". The theme that unites all three areas is "Sustainable development". The decisions of future specialists from KGEU in project engineering were aimed at the introduction of digital technologies in the design and construction of an oil and gas production plant in the Far North. KGEU was among the six winners and the students' solution became one of the six best solutions in the field of "Project Engineering".

Another reason for pride was the fact that the university has been winning prizes in the Energy of Education competition for six years in a row.  The competition is held among universities that organize the qualifying stages of the championship.  Among all 35 universities participating in the "Electric Power Industry" section of the CASE-IN championship, KGEU scored maximum points, including for the constant increase in the number of participants. If at first we were talking about eight or nine teams, then this year 16 teams competed in the Electric Power Industry alone, and a total of 51 teams competed in all three areas.  Associate professors of the KGEU Yulia Zatsarinnaya and Alfiya Arzamasova were included in the "Hall of Fame" of the championship for their great contribution to its development.

AGNI became another Tatarstan university that won (in 2021 for the third time!) in the Energy of Education competition. He became the best among 19 technical universities in organizing and conducting the qualifying stage in the field of "Oil and gas business". Making such an assessment, the expert commission analyzed the quality and effectiveness of the championship, the number of participants, and the participation of the university leadership in it. In 2021, about 70 people participated in the qualifying stage at the AGNI base. Four teams advanced to the semifinals and one to the final.

The very first championship at this university was organized in 2016, that year the university reorganized the student scientific and technical society. 

What did the championship give?

"For us, CASE-IN is an excellent channel for informing students about the company's capabilities, - notes Oksana Mustafina. – And it's a good tool to see what the guys are capable of and select the best. After all, to get to the finals, they go through qualifying rounds in their regions, and the strongest teams reach the finals. In 2019, 36 participants of the championship joined the company, in 2020 - about 80.

We have a great interest in Tatarstan universities, because the level of training of students there is very high. We would like to employ more guys from Tatarstan in the company. But so far we don't have many of them. Perhaps, due to the recent deal (in April 2021, SIBUR holding agreed to merge assets with Tatarstan-based TAIF), the situation will change, and there will be more Kazan guys in the company. But I noticed that university graduates are not very willing to leave Kazan. This is probably a plus for the region."

Daniyar Octobrev He believes that the championship provides a tremendous experience of independent work for students in terms of self-development. In fact, they prepare express versions of theses and master's theses. The guys learn to present the material in a way that is understandable to the first person they meet.

For Daniyar himself, participation in the project of the presidential platform "Russia – the land of opportunities" opened up career prospects. After the team's performance in 2019, the young specialist received a new job offer. Daniyar Oktiabrev is currently the HR manager. Since Tatneft has approved an internship program for the best participants of the championship this year, as in previous years, he selected six students from among the participants. The guys are already interning at the company.

 "CASE-IN" will be successfully developed, – Daniyar is sure. – After all, the organizers themselves are constantly working on improvements. I am very sorry that this championship did not take place when I was a student myself. I would love to participate in it!"

Albert Musin participation in the championship helped him to complete an internship at one of the international companies, where he was engaged in the PET waste recycling facility.

"CASE-IN" is considered the flagship case championship throughout Russia, – Albert Musin notes. – Not only reaching the finals, but also simply participating gives students the necessary teamwork skills and the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge to solving specific business problems."

The main season of the CASE-IN championship has been completed, but the engineering competitions in 2021 will not stop there. The Autumn Cup will start very soon, the final of which will traditionally bring together talented young people.

For more information, see the link.