Young specialists of 4 companies – finalists of the Autumn CASE-IN Cup

Young specialists from Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil & Gas LLC, the Mordovian branch of PJSC T Plus, the Polar branch of the Mining and Metallurgical Company and the Amur Gas Chemical Complex became finalists of the XIII season of the Autumn Cup of the International Engineering CASE-IN Championship.

They successfully performed at the first qualifying stage of the League of Young Professionals, an engineering case–solving competition aimed at evaluating and developing professional knowledge and leadership skills, as well as personal competencies of company employees, identifying leaders among industry workers, involving them in solving urgent production tasks, and helping young employees transfer their accumulated management experience.

8 teams representing POLYEF JSC, the Polar Branch of MMC Norilsk Nickel, St. Petersburg State Unitary Enterprise Gorelectrotrans, Tomskneftekhim LLC, Amur Gas Chemical Complex, Mordovian Branch of T Plus PJSC, Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil and Gas Company, and Engineering and Technological Service LLC, in total It took 20 days to complete a task on the main theme of the season, "Technological Innovation." 

The organizers outlined their task to analyze the open system and structure of the cross-functional sectors of the fuel and energy complex and the MSC, and then develop a project proposal for the implementation of a breakthrough technology solution in the most vulnerable sector and a strategic roadmap for synchronizing the technological development of selected sectors over a 5-year horizon. 

An expert commission consisting of leading experts from industry companies and organizations remotely listened to the decisions of the teams and determined the first finalists of the League. 

The Full THROTTLE team was recognized as the winner of the qualifying stage, which included employees of Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil Company Roman Galekbarov (captain), Riima Galekbarova, Rafael Mustafayev and Semyon Vildyakin. They proposed a technology that allows processing associated petroleum gas without harm to the environment and with benefits for the economy.

 "Instead of burning associated petroleum gas, we turn it into three valuable products: blue hydrogen, ammonia (as a convenient and safe carrier of this hydrogen), and carbon nanotubes, a material of the future in demand in electronics, energy, and even medicine., – the captain of the team shared the nuances of the development Roman Galekbarov. – The main advantage is the complete absence of CO₂ emissions: all carbon remains in the form of a useful technical product, rather than escaping into the atmosphere. This complies with global environmental standards and helps Russia maintain its leadership in green and blue energy."  

However, the project not only reduces the negative impact on nature, but also creates new jobs, develops high-tech industries and opens up opportunities for exporting innovative products to Asian countries. 

"Success in the qualifying stage was made possible thanks to a deep study of the technical side of the project, a strong economic model and the integration of digital solutions., Roman Galekbarov confessed. –  We actively used digital tools, from SimInTech modeling to AI process management through the LOGOS platform, which allowed us to demonstrate the maturity of the project at the smart manufacturing level. It is this systemic end—to—end approach, from idea to digital implementation, that has become the key to our success."

At the championship, the guys remembered the constructive feedback from experts who evaluated the project and gave specific recommendations on how to refine the technical and economic aspects. "In addition, the selection format itself allowed us to take a fresh look at the solution: by presenting the project to the jury, we became more aware of its strengths and growth areas. The interaction within the team in a limited amount of time was especially valuable — it brought us together and showed how important it is to combine engineering depth, financial soundness and strategic vision.", – said the captain of the team. 

Thanks to the CASE-IN, the specialists of Slavneft-Krasnoyarsk Oil & Gas LLC have learned to think like a team of like-minded people capable of transforming complex challenges into real innovations. At the final stage, they set themselves a difficult and ambitious task – to successfully protect the project and demonstrate its readiness to scale as a real industrial solution.  

"Participation in the final of the CASE-IN is for us not just a stage of the competition, but an entry point into the professional community of the future., – Roman Galekbarov shared his expectations for the decisive competition of the season. – This is an opportunity to establish ourselves as a team capable of thinking systematically and offering solutions that meet the challenges. We are confident that the finals will open the doors for us to real career and research opportunities, including in the partner companies of the championship."

Vice-champion – Live S.Team (Mordovian branch of PJSC T Plus): Rostislav Shershenov (captain), Valery Gartsev, Yana Voronina and Evgeny Kizrin.

"We demonstrated the skills of cross-functional interaction, which allowed us to be among the best. We were pleasantly surprised by the high level of competition: the teams demonstrated interesting solutions that are distinguished by their innovation. I think there will be a serious fight for the prizes in the finals.", – said the captain of the team Rostislav Shershenov. 

The top three were rounded out by employees of the Polar branch of the Mining and Metallurgical company Shamil Zainetdinov (captain), Artem Gavrishev, Artur Tropin and Angelina Islamova, united in the Arctic Team.

Team Captain Shamil Zainetdinov, Having previously participated in the Student League, he compared the two competitions under the auspices of the CASE-IN. "Students have more free time to solve the case. And the participants of the League of Young Professionals, who mostly have families and permanent jobs, need to open up new horizons of time management in order to prepare an effective project. You need to be able to choose the most optimal hypothesis from a variety of hypotheses and quickly build a solution structure in your head.", – he thinks. 

Working on this principle, the bronze medalists prepared a solution that uses bacteria to extract platinoids from rock previously processed at the factory. 

"It is important to understand that it is extremely difficult and expensive to extract precious metals from the rock. At the same time, quite a lot of metals remain in the rock. This is where the bacterium begins to work, which now acts as a microfactory for processing landfill rock., – Shamil Zainetdinov told. – Our solution is characterized by its synergy and novelty, so it may be of interest to leading companies.  For example, the Palladium Technology Center, recently opened by Norilsk Nickel, is moving towards the goal of expanding the palladium market through the development of new technologies. We are offering an environmentally friendly and productive way to recycle landfills by adding the amount of palladium and other platinoids produced." 

The 4th place in the qualifying stage was taken by the AmurTeam team, which is represented by specialists of the Amur Gas Chemical Complex Mikhail Gerasimchuk (captain), Dmitry Burdin, Victoria Kalinina and Yulia Fayzrakhmanova.

These teams will present their finalized projects to the industry community on December 19 in Moscow as part of the Autumn Cup finals, share their experiences with colleagues, and receive advice from the best experts on career development.

The winners and prize-winners will receive diplomas and valuable prizes, as well as the opportunity to join the management personnel reserve of companies and implement solutions in real production.