AiF St. Petersburg: the final of the "CASE-IN" championship was a success for the region

Every year, students from four leading universities in St. Petersburg take part in the International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN". This year, they were joined by students from the fifth university. As a result, students and young professionals from St. Petersburg and the Northwest took away seven sets of awards from the "CASE-IN" finals.

 "St. Petersburg is among the leaders in the number of universities participating in the championship. Five St. Petersburg universities compete very seriously with other universities in the fields of mining, geological exploration and electric power engineering. In the nine-year history of the championship, St. Petersburg residents have taken home 18 sets of awards, including 5 champions cups.", " He's telling me founder and co-chairman of the CASE-IN Championship Artem Korolev.

The Northern capital is represented in the championship by Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg State University of Economics, St. Petersburg Mining University, St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University named after V.I. Ulyanov (Lenin), St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. But the real record holder is the Mining University. He has been involved in the project since 2013.

So, the WeWatt team participated in the Championship for 4 years. Daria Batueva was a member of this team for 2 years, and for another 2 years she was already a mentor and inspirer. The guys say that it was an annual ongoing work on themselves, the constant development of their skills and competencies, confidence in performances, the formation of their point of view on the fuel and energy complex and some expert opinion on issues in their field of activity.

"Now I'm involved with CASE-IN as the moderator of the case defense in the final, I feel how worried the guys are, I empathize with them and support them., – says Daria Batueva. – At St. Petersburg Mining University, we implement the mentoring principle for CASE-IN participants. The participants who have won or achieved some success in the Championship are happy to share their experience and help the following teams in their areas of preparation for the new season."

In 2021, the WeWatt team reached the finals again and became the silver medalist in the Electric Power Industry.

Chairman's opinion

Chairman of the selection committee in St. Petersburg – Deputy Head of the Electrical Modes Service of the Branch of JSC SO UES ODE to the North-West by Vasily Wessart he spoke about the level of preparation of the participants of the championship in 2021: "I would like to note the lively, genuine interest of students in their future profession. Despite the intense curriculum, the students find time to educate themselves and broaden their horizons."

The chairman of the commission also noted the fact of the interpenetration of completely different specialties. "The teams included not only students studying technical disciplines, but also students from other institutes from related economic and even humanitarian fields. When students go beyond the boundaries of the programs they study in, it is very important.", – the interlocutor noted.

It is not the first year that guest teams from universities of the North-Western Federal District, for example, Petrozavodsk State University, have been participating in the qualifying stages of the championship in St. Petersburg. In 2021, the Karel Protection team distinguished itself, first winning the qualifying stage, and then managing to reach the superfinal of the Electric Power Industry in Moscow.

Why is it so important for students to participate in the CASE-IN?

"When a student comes to an organization after graduation, it always takes time to adapt to work, to expand his field of knowledge somewhat to solve practical problems. I think these guys, with their aspirations for additional education, have every chance of being employed and building a career., – says Vasily Vladimirovich. – It can be seen that the championship makes it possible to improve the skills of both students and young professionals, gain experience in public speaking and presentations. Also, after the Championship, the participants become known in organizations and enterprises."

Vasily Wessart advises the guys to never give up and continue to participate in the presidential platform project "Russia – the land of Opportunities" year after year, even if they failed to win prizes – this is a constant process of self-development, invaluable public speaking experience, the opportunity to discover new things in their future profession and not lose interest in it. And interest, in turn, encourages action, gives energy and creates conditions for development.

The League of the Future

The CASE-IN championship was created to popularize engineering and technical professions, to involve young talents in the specialty. Natalia Trifonova, Director of the Institute of Innovative Design and Technological Entrepreneurship of St. Petersburg State University "LETI", Scientific director of the League of Young Professionals of the championship, member of the "CASE-IN" Hall of Fame He believes that this is how the future is shaped."We see an increased interest in those industries within which the main industry areas of the Championship are being formed. These are metallurgy, oil refining, oil and gas business, petrochemistry. Finally, the League of young professionals. The number of teams has increased, and a wider range of solutions is available. Moreover, teams are being formed that participate more than once, and work within the framework of not only one league to achieve victory, but declare themselves in a number of areas. In other words, there is a growing interest in the country's energy sector."

According to Natalia Viktorovna, employees of the energy complex, in turn, are interested in young talents, because there is a lively demand for high-tech solutions, for new technical and technological approaches. In other words, there are a growing number of interested companies that understand that they can accept the youth intellectual elite.

"All the cases from life"

The Yakutniproalmaz Institute is a structural division of PJSC ALROSA, one of the world's largest diamond mining companies. The Institute conducts research closely related to ensuring efficient diamond production.

Nikolay Kurnev, Chief Engineer of the Yakutniproalmaz Institute He joined the competent commission for the first time. He was confronted by students who were solving real-world cases that present real challenges to the mining industry. The specialist was amazed: the students' ideas were not just new and interesting, but also really applicable to the work of a huge company.

"The CASE-IN Championship is important for ALROSA, because it demonstrates the level of training at universities where future miners are trained. It is also a chance to invite students for further cooperation., – says Nikolai Kurnev. – That is why all the real-life cases: for example, this year the task was to ventilate the Udachny mine.

It's about providing fresh air to workers who are underground. Moreover, this issue is extremely important for the development of mines throughout the country.

The chief engineer is confident that the solutions proposed by the contestants demonstrate novelty, innovation, and show the company the direction in which the development trend is moving not only in mining, but also in any other industry.

"Within the framework of the Championship, real scientific research is being conducted: students have wide access to information, they have curators – professors and associate professors who help them. As a result, the contestants offer extravagant ideas that might not even occur to established engineers., – shared by Nikolai Vasilyevich. – Young people go beyond the boundaries in a good way, many ideas can be implemented."

"CASE-IN – the way of self-development"

Young specialist Nikolai Pavlov participates in the Championship for the fourth year in a row. Previously, he played three times in the Student League in the team of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, and this season he solved the case as a young specialist at JSC NIPIGAZ, a powerful engineering center that opened in St. Petersburg recently.

The case, which was solved by young specialists this year, was devoted to the sustainable development of companies in the fuel and energy and mineral resources complex in the post-crisis period. It was necessary to overcome the situation by developing a number of technical solutions.

"The case was solved on the basis of PJSC SIBUR Holding. We have studied the company's infrastructure, and we have proposed a digital solution for each of the many components of our business., – shares Nikolai Gennadievich. – For example, drones and robotics were supposed to ensure pipeline safety. We considered the domestic and foreign experience. The proposals concerned both the production process and human resource management."

This season, for the first time, NIPIGAZ JSC became a strategic partner of the championship and one of the initiators of the new branch of the Student League, Project Engineering. The Engineering Bureau team of students from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University also reached the finals of the new direction.

Team captain Alina Spitskaya She said that at the qualifying stage it was necessary to provide for the solution of five different tasks: starting with monitoring the melting of permafrost soils, ending with geological exploration in Arctic conditions. In other words, these are the very challenges in the development of the North that our country is already facing today.

As a result, the contestants managed to equip a hypothetical UAV so that it became multifunctional: the machine could not only fly around the territory, but also make a 3-D map of the earth's layers, monitor the melting of ice.

The young power engineers of the Leningrad region performed no less successfully this season. The Northern Lights team represented the region in the league finals. IDGC of the North-West's young specialists Anna Igumnova (captain), Nikita Kholmov, Maria Katkanova and Igor Isaev have developed a strategy for energy companies and the entire industry in the post-covid period. The award for them was the title of the bronze medalists of the season.

"CASE-IN: theory turns into practice"

Yuri Shibachev is a specialist of the 1st category in the branch of JSC SO UES ODE to the Northwest. I grew up in a family of power engineers, consciously chose a profession, and I am passionate about my work. For him, "CASE-IN" is not just a competition, but an opportunity to get to know colleagues better and broaden his horizons.

"Participation in the "CASE-IN" is the greatest opportunity for a young specialist not to focus on fulfilling his professional duties. Solving the case, you begin to see how your work affects the industry as a whole, from the generating facility to the consumer., - Yuri talks enthusiastically about his impressions, – Moreover, the exchange of experience is also important. The fact is that our daily job is to improve reliability, and we must consider all possible solutions. Naturally, when a team from all over the country works together, the result is excellent. Such championships help to unite all regions."

Yuri emphasizes that the project of the Russia – the Land of Opportunities platform is also important for schoolchildren.: "For example, there was no such thing in my childhood. But this is an opportunity to communicate with current specialists, students, and curators. In fact, the students receive career guidance in an adversarial manner. The championship is also good for students of any course. The fact is that you can learn something from textbooks, but this is theory. Here, using real examples, the guys see how theory turns into practice. That is, there comes an understanding of how the acquired knowledge will be applied. This is a step into the profession."

For more information, see the material of the AIF St. Petersburg