The League of Young Professionals of the Autumn Cup CASE-IN: vibrant competition and promising ideas

The young specialists of Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil & Gas LLC, Mosenergo PJSC and Sibur-Kstovo LLC became the winners and prize-winners of the Autumn Cup of the International Engineering CASE-IN Championship, which is held with the support of the presidential platform "Russia – the Land of Opportunities".  Ambitious employees have created promising solutions to implement the principles of thrift in Russia's leading industries and successfully presented them to the expert community, and career opportunities have become their reward for their efforts.

46 teams participated in the League of Young Professionals, which, as part of remote qualifying competitions, solved tasks on the main topic of the XII season of the CASE-IN championship, "Lean Manufacturing".

Anastasia Bondarenko, State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, Gennady Guryanov, Deputy Director General of ANO Russia - Land of Opportunities, Alexander Vedekhin, Deputy Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bugaev, First Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, Rector, took part in awarding the strongest teams in Moscow. NRU "MEI" Nikolay Rogalev.

State Secretary – Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia Anastasia Bondarenko She noted that the Autumn Cup helped young people discover their talents and get involved in solving key tasks for the industry.

«We really need young forces in the fuel and energy complex. In the electric power industry, for example, and this is one of the key areas of CASE-IN, the lowest indicator among the fuel and energy sectors in terms of the proportion of young people. Every year, the championship shows how talented young people can apply their strengths to solving specific tasks, and provides ample opportunities for personal, professional and career development." Anastasia Bondarenko noted.

Head of the Department of International Business at St. Petersburg State University of Economics, expert and scientific director of the CASE-IN League of Young Professionals, member of the CASE-IN Hall of Fame since 2019 Natalia Trifonova She noted that the Autumn Cup of the League of Young Specialists was distinguished by both innovations in the evaluation system and the result of the previous development of the League of Young Specialists – the level of solutions demonstrated.

"This season, for the first time, experts were given the opportunity to evaluate within the extended range, which influenced the possibility of comparing the results of teams and the results of the work of representatives of the expert commission.- Natalia Trifonova told, - The level of solutions presented required this. The demonstrated systematic approach, algorithmic roadmaps, reflection of the traditions and best practices of companies, and innovations in the development and dissemination of "thrift" tools forced experts to "work hard." The finale is getting more intense. Teams learn from their own experiences, learn from each other, and learn from leaders. It is obvious that the Championship is becoming a platform for the industry transfer of the best solutions and practices."

In the final, 14 youth teams met in Moscow. 13 teams representing Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil & Gas LLC, ALROSA (PJSC), TNSC LLC, Rosseti Tyumen Branch Noyabrsk Electric Networks LLC, Sibur-Kstovo LLC, Tomskneftekhim LLC, Kuzbassrazrezugol Management Company JSC, Rosseti Severo-Zapad, Gazpromneft-MNPZ JSC and POLYEF JSC received tickets to the finals based on the results of the qualifying stages. They were also joined by the winners of the Special League "Energy" - PJSC "Mosenergo".

The finalists presented to the experts solutions related to the implementation of the philosophy and principles of lean manufacturing and their effective application in the context of sustainable development.

A competitive and vibrant competition unfolded for the cup, as a result of which the employees of Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil Company Maria Zharnakova (captain), Egor Boburov, Valery Cheusov and Inna Rukosueva, united in the Oil Grail team, were recognized as the winners.

"Our decision on how to turn the company's losses into profits, - shares the nuances of a team decision Maria Zharnakova. – In the project, we proposed a system for implementing "thrift", which is based on the extraction of strontium carbonate from incidentally extracted water and the introduction of a digital system to obtain only the required volume of product. Metallic strontium, which has been discontinued in our country, will be obtained from the extracted carbonate. Globally, the solution is aimed at ensuring the country's technological sovereignty in the face of global competition and the development of high technologies, because we will be able not only to replace the entire volume of strontium imports, but also to enter the global market. We have received extensive feedback from several experts. Each of them spoke positively about our project and appreciated the relevance and novelty of the idea."

The winners remembered the final of the Autumn CASE-IN Cup not only for the hard work on the case, but also for the atmosphere of team spirit and interaction. They were able to share their experiences with colleagues, evaluate new ideas and approaches to solving problems, and meet like-minded people and professionals from different fields. The finals became an excellent opportunity for personal and professional growth for the specialists.

"In our project, we applied an innovative approach to problem solving and detailed study of each subsequent stage, which eventually allowed us to win., - said Maria Zharnakova. – In the course of our work, we also subjected our solution to constant criticism, discussed a lot and made changes, which significantly improved the quality of our work. In addition, our team is multifaceted and cohesive, without which, we believe, success cannot be achieved. Also, one of the important components of success, of course, was the support of colleagues and mentors."

At the championship, employees of Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil & Gas LLC strengthened many skills, including teamwork, critical thinking and effective presentation. "Working as a team has allowed us to better understand and accept different points of view and find compromises. In addition, we mastered rapid adaptation to new tasks, which was especially important in a time-limited environment. Last but not least, we have improved our data analysis and strategy development skills, which will help us in future projects and in the process.", - the champions noted.

The winners admitted that winning the championship increased their self-confidence and gave them motivation for further development.: "We realized that we are able to cope with serious challenges and achieve our goals. Inspiration and self-confidence had a positive effect on our pursuit of new achievements. We believe that the skills acquired at the championship will help us in the process of building a career and open up opportunities for professional growth. Our team is ready for new challenges. We are looking forward to participating in new projects. Our goal is to repeat our success and work on interesting tasks again."

The silver medal was won by the Carbon Footprint team, which included specialists from Mosenergo Timur Alimov (captain), Anna Savchenko, Elena Sorokina and Vladislav Bitney.

The New Challenge team rounded out the top three. Employees of Sibur-Kstovo LLC Ekaterina Kholod (captain), Ilya Belyashkin, Svetlana Ivanova, Daniil Orlov emphasized that they faced a decent level of competition at the League of Young Professionals. In their opinion, all the teams have done a great job, and the rivalry with them has contributed to professional development.

"Every championship is a new challenge for our team. Decisions are always difficult, but we always try to approach things with special enthusiasm. Thanks to the championship, we are honing our skills in solving non-standard tasks and interesting performances", - Ekaterina Kholod emphasized.

The winners and prize-winners of the League of Young Professionals were given the opportunity to join the managerial personnel reserve of their companies and implement solutions in practice. They will also be able to attend industry youth educational forums.

The final of the Autumn Cup not only summed up the results of 2024, but also outlined promising areas for the development of the championship for the future. In 2025, the CASE-IN will be dedicated to the topic of technological innovation, emphasized the founder and co-chairman of the organizing committee. Artem Korolev.

"This topic will become the leitmotif of the championship and will be the basis for future cases., – He told me. –The introduction of technological innovations into production is one of the key pillars for achieving technological sovereignty and forming a strong and competitive national economy.".

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

The championship is included in the "Science to Win" initiative and the plan The Decade of Science and Technology, which takes place in Russia in 2022-2031.