9 teams of young specialists became finalists of the Autumn Cup of the CASE-IN Championship

9 teams representing the country's leading industrial companies will compete in the finals of the League of Young Professionals The Autumn Cup of the International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN", one of the projects ANO "Russia – the land of opportunities".  Ambitious contestants managed to develop promising decisions on the development of the energy potential of Donbass will now compete for the main prizes of the season in Moscow in December 2022.

In the jubilee X season of "CASE-IN", the contestants solve cases based on real production situations and related to the development of digitalization and the introduction of information technologies on production sites. Industry 4.0 has become the single remit of the championship.

In the qualifying stage, 36 youth teams, which included the best specialists from industrial companies under the age of 35, worked on the case "Donbass – the southern energy "heart" of the country. As part of the assignment from industry experts, participants had to choose rehabilitation facilities based on studying the sectoral structure, assessing the potential of the region, modeling and forecasting scenarios for its development, and identifying infrastructural and economic resources and propose an approach to carrying out restoration work for selected facilities.

The next important step on the way to the finals is the presentation of their decisions to the expert commission, which includes specialists from companies and specialized organizations. The young people needed not only to explain the essence of the projects in a short period of time and prove their effectiveness, but also to answer the questions of a competent jury.

 "We noted several teams that were able to correctly submit the material and structure it so that it was understandable without unnecessary questions., – says the chairman of the expert commission, Head of the Scientific and Educational Department of the Institute of Innovative Design and Technological Entrepreneurship of St. Petersburg State University of Economics Marina Vlasova. – Participation in the championship brings invaluable benefits not only to the contestants, but also to us, the experts. In the projects of the teams, we saw how the real production of industrial companies functions, and through communication with young specialists we were able to understand what problems they face and what they need for further growth."

According to the results of the qualifying tests, only 9 teams representing Zarubezhneft JSC, Gazprom Transgaz Tchaikovsky LLC, the East Siberian branch of RN-Burenie LLC, Alrosa JSC, Gazpromneft-Yamal LLC, Tyumen Petroleum Scientific the Center, PJSC ROSSETI North-West, LLC Gazpromtrans and PJSC Sibur-Kstovo. Among the finalists there are both avid participants and winners of the "CASE-IN", as well as debutants of the engineering competition.

One of the places in the finals was taken by the Digital Force team. Nikita Kholmov (captain of the team), Vladislav Mayakov, Oleg Gladyshev and Maxim Topushkin, young specialists of PJSC ROSSETI North-West, reviewed two rehabilitation facilities in their project, where they propose to introduce steam generating units and additional blast furnaces. According to the champions, this will improve the environment and increase production capacity.

 "We not only propose to reconstruct the enterprises, but also to provide them with electricity generation. Our solution, when implemented, will ensure the functioning of these enterprises without the involvement of the country's energy system.", "I'm sure Maxim Topushkin.

Team Captain Nikita Kholmov: "Our team members are representatives of the electric grid complex and IT- Yes, that's why it was new for us to work on a major renovation project. However, despite this, we managed to create a promising solution, present it profitably and win."

Working on the case revealed the analytical and engineering abilities of the specialists, allowed them to master the economic skills to calculate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.

Oleg Gladyshev: «We were able to combine the capabilities and talents of all the participants, which allowed us to achieve the desired result. Our team is a single mechanism, each element of which is essential for quality work."

Young specialists from Alrosa, united in the Gem team, consider the crucial test as an opportunity to express themselves and understand what they are capable of both personally and teamwork.

Mikhail Barinov (team captain), Mikhail Golovchak, Artemy Isakov and Anastasia Cherepanova will go to the finals with a solution, the essence of which is to modernize existing coal mining facilities in the territory of Donbass, taking into account the specifics of the region and the current state of production. As an example, the winners of the qualifying stage selected a pilot mine and proposed a specific development path, which, in their opinion, will have a positive impact not only on technical and economic indicators, but also contribute to the rapid recovery of the region in terms of overall infrastructure.

"The main difficulty for our team was the significant distance from each other: it was difficult to synchronize the work, taking into account the time difference of 6 hours and the current production tasks, – explains the captain of the team Mikhail Barinov. – But despite this, we coped with the tasks set and were even able to train the skills to quickly search and analyze a large amount of information, as well as learn how to choose the most optimal solution. A significant part of the time was devoted to preparing the presentation and presentation, bringing all the information into a general "readable" form.

Young professionals plan to develop their personal and professional skills by climbing the career ladder. In this regard, they expect that winning the Autumn Cup will allow them to replenish their portfolio and increase the chances of an early promotion.

Zarubezhneft JSC has extensive experience in participating in the CASE-IN championship, and the youth team of Nestro Energy will be represented at the final of the Autumn Cup 2022. In the qualifying stage, young specialists Maxim Gimadetdinov (team captain), Victoria Balyakina, Ekaterina Begisheva and Sergey Balkanov presented to the experts a project to restore the strategic metallurgical engineering plant "Azovmash" in the city of Mariupol, which has a rich history, produces a large product line and employs about 10,000 highly qualified specialists.

"In our decision, we propose to restore production with an additional focus on improving the environmental component, which can be achieved thanks to modern coal gasification technology.- explains the captain of the triumphators Maxim Gimadetdinov. – The main difficulty was in choosing an object and assessing its current condition based on information from open sources. At the same time, it was extremely informative for us to immerse ourselves in the technological processes of the production of various products of our chosen facility and to feel the importance of the Azovmash plant both for the Donbass region and for the main customer countries of the products."

At the CASE-IN championship, participants were once again convinced that they are able to set clear goals and fulfill them, find non-standard solutions and interact effectively even in conditions of limited time and different locations.

"We were able to achieve the desired result thanks to the full dedication of our team members and the effective application of the best qualities of each of them., – Maxim Gimadetdinov is sure. – We already have experience of performing and winning the «CASE-IN», but, every time you receive a task, you begin to enthusiastically immerse yourself in the topic and discover new horizons for yourself. The competition helps to foster new and strengthen old positive habits that help us in our daily lives."

In the final stage of the project, Zarubezhneft employees want to acquire new knowledge and professional skills, as well as share their experience with colleagues from other regions.

"The championship has transformed into a platform for new acquaintances and communication with ideological specialists from different industries and companies. I am sure that such connections will help to unite the active youth industry community of our country and contribute to the generation of new useful ideas, which, after detailed refinement, can become very promising projects.", – the winners count.

In the coming month, the 9 finalist teams will have to finalize their projects taking into account the assessments of the expert commission at the qualifying stage, and then present their ideas to the industry community at the decisive test, which will be held on December 16, 2022 in Moscow. CASE-IN champions and prize-winners will have the opportunity to implement their solutions in real production and will be able to join the managerial personnel reserve of companies.