The CASE-IN Championship competitions were held at the REN Youth Day

20 youth teams participated in the CASE-IN International Engineering Championship as part of the Youth Day of the Russian Energy Week International Forum. The Championship "CASE-IN"it is included in the Presidential platform "Russia – the land of opportunities".  Students and young specialists from 15 regions of Russia told us what a modern fuel and energy sector employer should be like and what are the features of switching energy facilities to remote control.

The organizers of the REN Youth Day are the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, the Roscongress Foundation, the Moscow Government, the Russian Society Znanie and the Reliable Change Foundation.  The co-organizer is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh).

"The REN Youth Day is the main event for the youth of the fuel and energy complex. This is the assembly point of the most effective and modern industry projects that industry companies and technical universities carry out for schoolchildren, students and young professionals. The Fuel and Energy Complex's youth policy for the next year is formed here every year, so it is on the sidelines of the Youth Day that two special tracks of the International Engineering CASE-IN Championship are held: the REN Cup for Young professionals and the MediaTek Special League for students of industry universities."  says the founder and co-chairman of the International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN" Artem Korolev.

Competitions of the MediaTek Special League, organized by  The Reliable Change Foundation and the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University were held for the first time as part of the Russian Academy of Sciences Youth Day in 2019. The main idea of the MediaTek League   development of communication between industry professionals and the general public.

"The Championship "CASE-IN"It not only expands the range of industry areas, but also brings up non-trivial topics such as attracting attention.  attitude to the electric power industry, non-standard methods of promotion and creative approach in the coverage of events and fuel and energy companies", - the Deputy General Director of ANO "Russia – the land of opportunities" commented at the opening of the competition  Anton Serikov.

This year, the organizers invited students to develop their own view of fuel and energy companies as employers..

Anton Serikov spoke about the results employer brand research, conducted by the organizing committee of the "CASE-IN" championship.  The study, which involved 432 participants of the championship, showed: 72% of respondents are confident that their university has strong ties with the industry and they are waiting for a variety of internship and employment offers. Also, the majority of students (70%) believe that they will leave the university as qualified and in-demand specialists. 62% of respondents note a high demand for graduates of their university, while 71% of respondents are ready to move to another region for an interesting job.

"It is a very important task to tell how you, future specialists, see your ideal employer, and I am convinced that your work is of great practical interest to the entire industry. Organizing Committee's research "CASE-IN" it has shown that students are ready to meet the requirements of the fuel and energy sector labor market.    Moreover, it will be interesting to get acquainted with the results of your work and find out what you expect from the labor market and your future companies."   Anton Serikov concluded.

The competition was attended by 8 student teams representing Tomsk National Research Polytechnic University, Kuban State Technological University, Platov South Russian State Polytechnic University (NPI), Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Northeastern Federal University named after M. K. Ammosov in Mirny, Kazan State Power Engineering University, Yaroslavl State Technical University. University and St. Petersburg Mining University.

Each team has compiled the rating of the attractiveness of fuel and energy companies as potential employers, and for companies with critical indicators has developed recommendations for achieving leading positions in the labor market by 2030.

The work of the participants was evaluated by experts from the press services and HR departments of industry companies, as well as representatives of industry media.

The podium of the MediaTek Special League was taken by experienced CASE-IN teams.

The championship title was won by the team of the TPU AVA School of Energy Engineering. The first triumph of Tomsk residents at the CASE-IN championship took place in 2020, when Anastasia Rif, Varvara Tsvetkova and Anna Kaidashova became champions of the ECO-CASE Special League, having developed the best solution for the safe disposal or recycling of nuclear power plant radioactive waste. 

For the MediTEC competition, the participants studying in the specialty "nuclear power plants" again chose the nuclear industry. Having created a research methodology, the girls tested it on students of their specialty, interviewing 106 people.

The criteria for evaluating the NPP were both unique indicators (location) and current trends: the company's PR openness (active social networks, participation in Career Days and cooperation with universities), gender equality, flexible schedule, remote work, inclusivity.  The researchers also took into account important indicators for young professionals: the payment of lifting fees, the opportunity to get a preferential mortgage and the presence of a youth council in the company. The traditional indicators used by such recognized research companies as VTSIOM have not been forgotten either.:  career opportunities, salary level, quality of management, training opportunities, work safety and a comfortable team.

The result of the students' work was the rating of the best employers in the nuclear sector, which was led by JSC Power Machines, Balakovo NPP and Leningrad NPP.  In addition to the leaders, the rating includes Beloyarsk NPP, ZiO-Podolsk Machine-Building Plant, Kursk NPP, Atomtekhenergo JSC, Kola NPP, Gidropress Experimental Design Plant and JSC Institute of Reactor Materials.

The champions project also took into account the digitalization of the industry so that any specialist could find a job regardless of his specialization.

"It was the first time we participated in the Youth Day. We asked questions to the speakers of the Dialogue on Equal Terms, who touched upon really very important issues of the development of the fuel and energy complex, the fourth energy transition and the closure of the nuclear fuel cycle., says the captain of the team Anna Kaidashova,  ̶  In particular, Anastasia asked Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak about the environmental friendliness of renewable energy sources and the utilization of elements for renewable energy production. And Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom State Corporation, at Varvara's request, spoke about the company's projects within the framework of the national Ecology project in 2021 and 2022."  

The silver medalist was one of the most decorated teams of the CASE-IN championship, the WeWatt team of St. Petersburg Mining University. The team has been participating in the "CASE-IN" since 2015 and is based on the principles of mentoring and continuity: after going through the qualifying stages and "growing up" from the championship, the team members become mentors, and they give up their places to new students. Thus, several generations of participants of the championship, replacing each other, defend the honor of the university under the "brand" "WeWatt". The team's track record includes a variety of championship awards, including the 2020 CASE-IN Student League championship.

At the Youth Day, experienced participants of the championship, Laman Aliyeva, Vladislav Valnev, Antonina Stoyanova, led by silver medalist of the CASE-IN Student League Pavel Suslikov, distinguished themselves as part of WeWatt.

The winners proposed the idea of a specialized platform for the most effective communication between applicants and employers of the fuel and energy complex. The system will allow applicants to synchronize their profile with other services from the labor exchange to corporate websites, register to participate in industry events, automatically replenish their portfolio, and even give job recommendations to specific companies. Employers, for their part, will receive recommendations on brand development in the labor market and the opportunity to plan targeted programs.

"We are all convinced that we are moving in the right direction, our research is relevant for the fuel and energy and mineral resource complexes, that perseverance and hard work always bear fruit, and teamwork to achieve a common goal is the most valuable skill that also needs to be learned.", - the winners told.

The rating of employers according to St. Petersburg students was led by ALROSA, SIBUR and Polyus. The rating also includes PJSC Novatek, GC ROSATOM, PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel, PJSC PhosAgro, PJSC Tatneft, JSC Polymetal, PJSC Severstal, the Russian Copper Company Group and PJSC Transneft.

The PNRPU BERGBAU team received bronze medals - the team's captain Marina Alexandrova, Alexey Klyucharev and Vladimir Lyadov are repeated participants of the "CASE-IN".

The contestants analyzed the methodologies for assessing the attractiveness of employers of such experienced operators as the Rating Agency Expert-RA, the Financial and Economic magazine Forbes and the HeadHunter service and formed their own comprehensive rating based on them.

SIBUR, LUKOIL and SUEK became the most attractive employers according to Permians.  The rating also includes Rosneft, Gazprom, Severstal, RusHydro, PhosAgro, MHC EuroChem, T Plus, UMMC, and Uralchem.

The second engineering competition of the CASE-IN Championship at the Youth Day  The REN Cup has been held since 2017.    In 2021, the championship is being held as part of the Year of Science and Technology.

"In the Year of Science and Technology, we celebrate that there are talented and motivated young people in Russia, who are already the driving force behind new energy thinking. The Russian Ministry of Education and Science is interested in ensuring that engineering and technical professions increase prestige and remain in demand for modern youth. To this end, we carry out and support projects aimed at popularizing engineering and technical education and attracting young specialists to the fuel and energy and mineral resources sectors,  the head of the Department for the Organization of Social Projects of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation emphasized Oleg Dyachenko,  ̶   The Championship "CASE-IN"it increases the level of engineering literacy of young people, allows young people not only to offer their innovative solutions, but also to implement them in production."

Since 2017, the participants of the championship have been engaged in topics relevant to the Russian energy sector, including the development of the Arctic region of Russia, the promising development of energy in the Far East and Sakhalin Island, and the digital transformation of energy companies.

"In 2021, the REN Cup participants solved a case study on the transfer of subordinate electric grid facilities of the fuel and energy complex to remote control. The transition to 100% remote control of fuel and energy complex facilities in the UES of Russia with a voltage class of 220 kV and above and generation facilities with an installed capacity of 25 MW and above is provided for by the Russian Energy Strategy for the period up to 2035", comments the chairman of the expert commission, a leading analyst of the Reliable Shift Foundation, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Automated Electrical Systems at the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin. Alexander Egorov.

Youth teams from 12 fuel and energy companies have developed solutions for switching their companies' energy facilities to remote control and described its technical and economic impact on the company and the industry. While working on the case, the young specialists interacted with the technical staff and focused on the digitalization strategies of their companies, as well as studied the Energy Strategy for the Development of Russia until 2035 and the Digital Energy project of the Ministry of Energy.

The teams of NLMK PJSC, Messoyakhaneftegaz JSC, Irkutsk Oil Company LLC, Kuzbass branch of Siberian Generating Company LLC, T Plus PJSC, Udmurtsky Branch of T Plus PJSC, NTC Rosseti FGC UES JSC, Gazprom Neft PJSC met at the competition. JSC SO UES, PJSC IDGC of the North-West, JSC NIPIGAZ and JSC Zarubezhneft.

The Northern Lights team of PJSC ROSSETI North-West became the winner of the title of champions of the REN Cup: Maria Katkanova, Nikita Kholmov, Alexander Polyakov and Igor Isaev. This is the team's second championship triumph.:  Just 3 months ago, they became the bronze medalists of the "CASE-IN", having developed a strategy for energy companies and the entire industry in the post-covid period.

"On the way to our decision, we were inspired by our love for our profession. The energy industry is the engine of our country's economy, so it was an honor for us to solve a case in this particular industry.,  says the captain of champions Maria Katkanova,  ̶   The essence of our project is to transfer part of the facilities to remote control using an intelligent platform, while our project took into account the development of employee competencies within the framework of digital transformation."

"The REN Youth Day is exactly the kind of platform that undoubtedly allows not only to discover new talents, but also allows you to promote and implement fundamentally new projects that become the engine of the industry,"  This is Maria speaking.

NLMK's Olympians, Andrey Kirin (team captain), Roman Nekrasov, Pavel Sementsov and Alexander Yadrovsky, young NLMK specialists, won silver medals.   The team members grew up from the Student League, where as part of the LGTU teams they won prizes in the "branded" field of Metallurgy for residents of Lipetsk.

"The essence of the project proposed by our team is to transfer NLMK's generating capacities to remote control, which will allow determining the optimal degree of capacity utilization based on existing technical and economic indicators of the equipment, as well as promptly responding to changes in the energy market."  said the captain of the winners  Andrey Kirin.

The bronze medalists were "Not random people" - the titled team of the Udmurt branch of PJSC T Plus: captain Ivan Vershinin, Leonid Lovkin, Gavril Shadrin and Dmitry Stolbov. The team has won three prizes in the League of Young Professionals and the Special League of PJSC "T Plus" of the "CASE-IN" championship.

"Our team has proposed a comprehensive approach, says the captain of the team Ivan Vershinin,  ̶  Firstly, it is the digitalization and automation of sites, namely generation facilities and heating networks. The second is the implementation of a software package that ensures the protection and integrity of the management system, as well as increases the fault tolerance of the company as a whole. And the third step is to create a single information management center, whose task is to integrate all systems, process incoming commands to change the mode, and automatically change the mode based on the analysis."

"REN is always a growth point, it's a place where you can look at familiar issues from a different angle, and then move on with renewed vigor."   the bronze medalists conclude.

The awards to the champions and prize-winners of the REN Cup and the MediaTek Special League were presented on the main stage of REN personally by the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolai Shulginov.

"The talented young people who participated in the competitions are a solid foundation for the development of our energy sector, our fuel and energy complex. I got acquainted with a number of works and I am sure that the winners of the contests are really immersed in energy.", – said the head of the Ministry of Energy.

The next competitions of the REN Cup and the Special League of the International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN" will be held on the sidelines of the Youth Day of the International Forum "Russian Energy Week" in 2022.