Autumn Cup: Young professionals develop solutions to achieve technological leadership

The qualifying stages of the League of Young Professionals are continuing The International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN", which is supported by platforms "Russia – the land of opportunities".  During the Autumn Cup, employees of leading industrial companies not only solve real practical tasks, but also acquire important skills for career development.

The qualifying stages of the League of Young Professionals brought together more than 100 employees of 32 industrial companies. Participants solve tasks corresponding to the unified theme of the XI season of the CASE-IN championship "Technological Leadership" and related to artificial intelligence, computing and data transmission, robotics, and industrial technologies.

On the eve, expert commissions consisting of specialists from industry companies and organizations identified 6 winners and prize-winners of two qualifying competitions who received tickets to the championship finals.  

By solving problems in the field of technological development, the contestants were able to find effective import substitution practices, conduct technological forecasting in order to create advanced products, and develop new technologies that promote the active growth of individual companies and groups in various industries. The projects of the youth teams had to comply with the basic principles of sustainable development, energy conservation and energy efficiency.

9 youth teams of the largest industrial companies took part in one qualifying stage: Gazpromneft STC LLC, ALROSA JSC, Gazpromneft-MNPZ JSC, Gazprom Transgaz Tchaikovsky LLC, Azot JSC, RN-Tuapse Refinery LLC, Achinsk REFINERY VNK JSC andLUKOIL-Nizhnevolzhskneft".

The team "Guardians of CH4", representing Gazpromneft NTC LLC, became the winner of the qualifying stage. Success was forged by Evgeny Baydalzhi (captain), Nikita Bezrukov, Vladislav Zakharov and Daniil Mikhalev.

The second place was taken by the ALROSA Youth team, which included ALROSA employees Yaroslav Glatko (captain), Maxim Yemelyanov, Evgeny Panferov, Peter Yurkevich.

Yaroslav Glatko, who has been in the top three at the CASE-IN championship three times, believes that he has managed to transfer the accumulated experience to his teammates. This factor played a key role in the successful performance at the qualifying stage.

"One of the main problems in import substitution is a relatively small market. Therefore, we have proposed a strategy to increase the domestic market volume in the field of innovation through the transfer of best practices and technologies from leading mining companies to the coal industry.   Our solution will help significantly accelerate the process of import substitution of critical infrastructure and technologies.", - I told you about the team decision Yaroslav Glatko.

During the development of the solution, the champions managed to find a number of promising startups, one of which interested ALROSA. Negotiations are currently underway to put this idea into practice, the team captain said.

"The final of the CASE-IN championship is always a grandiose event where only the best teams get to. And we are glad to be among them. We will be happy to analyze the work of our colleagues from other companies. The final will help us find new motivation for further development", - Yaroslav Glatko is sure.

Young specialists of Gazpromneft-MNPZ Roman Kartashov (captain), Daniil Boyko, Nuri Gapaev and Vladimir Dyshlevich, united in the "100 per barrel" team, won bronze medals.

At another qualifying competition, participants of 10 youth teams shared their creative ideas, which included specialists from SiburTyumenGaz JSC, Gazstroyprom JSC, SUEK-Kuzbass JSC, Gazpromneft-Yamal LLC, Gazpromneft STC LLC, Gazpromneft-Noyabrskneftegazgeofizika LLC, RN-Drilling LLC."and LUKOIL-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez LLC.

The champions, the Vladivostok 2000 team, have developed a solution that uses the Rankine cycle to recycle heat losses in production.

Young specialists of SiburTyumenGaz JSC Anna Demina (captain), Ilya Avzalov, Arkady Vakhnenko and Mark Yachny tried to integrate the task of the case into real production problems so that the solution would not remain "on paper", but would fall into the funnel of the best ideas.

"A large amount of energy is currently being lost in the form of losses to the atmosphere. The use of the Rankine cycle will improve the energy efficiency of a quarter of enterprises. The advantage of the solution is also to reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, because now the equipment that we are going to replace by implementing our solution is powered by fuel gas. accordingly, greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere, and using the cycle will reduce Scope 1", - the captain of the team shared the nuances of the development Anna Demina.

The guys believe that they managed to get to the finals thanks to balanced and well-coordinated teamwork.

"We have assembled a group working in different areas (technology, production, reliability and repairs, and economic efficiency). Thanks to our experience in different fields, we were able to look at the case from different points of view and form a comprehensive solution. The experience of participating in previous championships, starting as a student, also played a role., - the finalists clarified. – The championship teaches multitasking, increases the speed of decision-making, and develops the ability to analyze large amounts of data under time constraints. Accordingly, all this increases the speed and quality of the development of management ideas and activities, which is consistent with our core work."

Denis Andreev (captain), Ksenia Andreeva, Alexey Gorobtsov and Ekaterina Chernovasilenko, young employees of Gazstroyprom JSC, representing the Two in a Square team, came second.

The silver medalists said that the work on the case took place in conditions of limited resources and time. There was a distance of 6,200 km and 6 time zones between the team members. However, these difficulties allowed them to form a competitive team, taught them how to process data, make managerial decisions, conduct risk analysis and develop strategies.

"We have proposed a facility for the production of methane by pyrolysis in plasma. Pyrolysis is a separation process by heating. The hydrogen produced by our method is called turquoise. This method is economically efficient and does not emit carbon dioxide. As a result, the carbon footprint is lower than that of green hydrogen, which is popular in Europe and China, which is produced by electrolysis and ordinary water.", - the captain of the team explained Denis Andreev.

The finalists are confident that they have been able to find a solution that will allow them to achieve technological leadership in the shortest possible time and will have a positive effect.

The three strongest were rounded out by the youth team "CUBE" - Kuznetsk Coal Basin. Young employees of JSC SUEK-Kuzbass Evgeny Vetrov (captain), Lyudmila Koshevarova, Vadim Kravets and Ivan Korchagin propose to create a center for copying and programming control boards in the mining industry.

Evgeny Vetrov: "Our solution will teach specialists how to copy boards and compete with their foreign counterparts. An in–depth analysis of the current problems of our coal mining company, excellent preparation, the ability to allocate time resources, as well as confidence in the correct solution of the case - this is our key to success, which allowed us to achieve results."

The final of the Autumn Cup will be held on December 15 in Moscow. Young specialists from the largest companies will present improved versions of their solutions to the industry community, share their experience with each other and gain new opportunities for development.

The winners and prize-winners of the League of Young Professionals will be able to implement their ideas in production and join the managerial personnel reserve of companies.

The success of the teams in the finals will affect the companies' place in the ranking of the League of Young Professionals, which is formed by the organizing committee "CASE-IN". The current rating can be found here on the project's website.

The organizers of the CASE-IN championship are the Reliable Change Foundation, the Non-profit Partnership Youth Forum of Mining Leaders and AstraLogica LLC.

The project is being implemented using a grant from the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society.

The CASE-IN project is being implemented within the framework of the federal project "Social Elevators for Everyone" of the national project "Education".

The CASE-IN Championship is included in the Science to Win initiative And the plan The Decade of Science and Technology, which will be held in Russia in 2022-2031.