Novosibirsk Region students conquer new horizons at the CASE-IN championship

Internships at the country's largest enterprises, career growth and admission to leading universities are the main opportunities for winners and participants. the "CASE-IN" championshipEvery year, students, schoolchildren and young scientists compete for victory in their respective leagues.

The season finale was attended by 617 future and current engineering specialists from Russia and the Republic of Belarus. In conditions of high competition and limited time, the guys from the regions tried to find solutions to cases in the nuclear industry, fuel and energy, mineral resource complexes and related industries. This year's championship is dedicated to the theme "Sustainable development".

The "CASE-IN" has been held since 2013. And 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. Currently, the platform unites 26 projects, including the Leaders of Russia management competition, the I am a Professional student Olympiad, the Your Turn competition, the Professional Training 2.0 project, the All–Russian Big Change competition, and many others.

 AiF in Novosibirsk talked with the winners, finalists and organizers of the International Engineering CASE-IN Championship and found out what opportunities the championship offers for young engineers and how to win in a difficult struggle.

"Eyes and ears" of the championship

The competitions were held in four leagues: the School League, the Student League, the League of Young Professionals and the Special League. The championship opened in February with the qualifying stages of the Student League, which were held in a mixed (distance and full-time) format on the basis of 62 partner universities of the project, including Novosibirsk State Technical University.

CASE-IN organizer, two-time winner of the Energy of Education competition and a Member of the Hall of Fame in the Organizers category in 2019 Anna Arestova It holds the championship for the seventh time.

"In 2015, the organizers of the Reliable Shift Foundation made a proposal to hold a qualifying stage in the field of Electric Power engineering at our university. Now we annually hold qualifying competitions among the participants of the main season and since 2019 we have been organizing the Autumn Cup.", - says the senior teacher of NSTU. Anna admits that she actively applies the case-solving format in her professional activities.

They say that the organizers of the "CASE-IN" are the "eyes and ears" of the championship. They are the ones who see the little things, notice what the expert's gaze doesn't fall on or the speakers don't pay attention to. Therefore, the organizer's advice is especially important for the participants. Anna advises future participants to pay attention to the selection of a team, not to waste time and start working from the first day of the case, and not to be afraid to solve new, unfamiliar tasks.

From the participant to the expert chair

After successfully passing the qualifying stages, the authors of the best solutions from Russia and the Republic of Belarus met in the final. For three days, present and future young specialists competed for prizes. According to the results of the competition, the winners and prize-winners were contestants from 19 regions of the country.

Artem Korolev, Director of the Reliable Change Foundation He tells me: "This year, 134 teams reached the finals, which also participated in previous seasons of the championship – this is a real desire to win, a manifestation of willpower, endurance, which CASE-IN develops. The participants overcame a lot of difficulties before reaching the finals: personal, outlined by the rules of the championship, and even epidemiological. Regardless of the outcome of the decisive test, the contestants will return home as CASE-IN heroes who have acquired new knowledge, strengthened their competencies and are ready for new great achievements."

The decisions of future specialists were evaluated by an expert commission, which included representatives of partner companies and universities of the championship.

The 2017 Student League winner and today's CASE-IN expert, Gleb Nesterenko, Engineer at RENERA LLC (Rosatom State Corporation) He remembers his journey from a finalist student of the championship to a member of the expert commission.

"I first became a CASE-IN participant when I was in my first year of graduate studies. Before that, of course, I had heard about the championship, but I was doing other student things and, one might say, saving up my strength., – says Gleb. – Having successfully passed the qualifying stages, my team and I reached the final, where we also won among 30 teams. I am sure that the reason for this is serious and long preparation." 

It was the victory in the project of the presidential platform "Russia – the land of opportunities" and participation in other case events that became the "ticket to a happy future" for the engineer. A resume with such an achievement as the "CASE-IN" championship played an important role in finding employment. In addition, Gleb managed to get to know and establish contacts with experts and organizers, who invited a promising specialist to sit in the jury chair of the championship himself. 

For his activity, initiative and successful participation in the CASE-IN, Gleb Nesterenko became a member of the CASE-IN Hall of Fame. This is a special award of the championship for participants, experts and organizers who have shown themselves to be extraordinary or have successfully participated in the event for several years. Now the young specialist is sharing his own experience and giving instructions to future CASE-IN participants: 

The future of energy

"Electric power Industry" is the most popular field of the championship, students from 34 universities of Russia and Belarus participate in it, and the final is held in two rounds. In order to be among the winners of the season, the participants had to successfully complete one of the tasks from the largest companies in the country's energy sector. 

6 teams of power engineers who presented the best solutions made it to the superfinal of the direction. Among them are students of Novosibirsk State Technical University. The Creators 1.0 team won the bronze medal in a difficult struggle. 

Team captain Alexandra Marchenko He tells me: "This is the third time I have participated in the championship. In 2021, with a new team. I immediately set myself the mindset that I would be the captain and assemble the team myself," the girl admits. – I already understood from the experience of previous years which competencies in the team group needed to be closed. When I was recruiting a team, I was guided by this experience and the assessment of the personal qualities of my colleagues. And in order to come together, we tried our hand at other engineering championships and had a training session before a serious event." 

On the instructions of JSC SO UES, young engineers had to develop solutions for the development of regional energy systems, and PJSC FGC UES offered to find applications for digital technologies in the development of a distribution network company. The team from NSTU has developed a system for data processing, which will help the company in solving issues of any category. The students' project was recognized as one of the best, and the guys received an honorable third place. This is not the first award in the "piggy bank" for "creators of digital solutions" (this is how the team's name translates). All the guys are activists, frequent participants in various scientific and cultural events, accustomed to winning. But the team captain admits that the "CASE-IN" is one of the most significant events in her life.

New horizons

After participating in the championship, some students create startups, because "CASE-IN" is an excellent platform for developing the latest solutions in various fields of engineering.

Captain of the IT-Zoo team, which became the bronze medalist in 2019 Konstantin Anosov Today, he works for one of the most successful IT companies and plans to launch his own project in this area.

"I work as a programmer and at the same time I am preparing to launch a startup. In addition, together with the members of our CASE-IN team, we continue to participate in various forums and championships, and create joint projects outside of work. This is how our community of four exists. We are friends, communicate, discuss business issues., – says Konstantin. – The championship is more likely to be useful for novice engineers, those who are not yet working in their specialty, while solving cases there is a run for their own creativity."

For more information, see the material of the AIF Novosibirsk.