Biotechnological solutions for the special economic zone from Kuzbass schoolchildren

The results of the qualifying stage of the Autumn Cup of the School League of the International Engineering Case-In Championship have been summed up. 148 teams from all over Russia took part in the intellectual competition, but only the best got a ticket to the finals.

The participants had to solve the complex case "Biotechnologies: infrastructural solutions". The students' task was to analyze the infrastructure of Russia's largest industrial site, the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), and propose innovative biotechnological solutions for its modernization.

As part of the case, the teams identified "bottlenecks" in the technical and social infrastructure of the SEZ, analyzed current trends in biotechnology, such as synthetic biology, bioprinting and biomodeling. The result was the development of specific projects for the introduction of biotechnologies into the operation of infrastructure facilities, including proposals containing economic, environmental and social effectiveness, as well as an analysis of the potential risks of their implementation until 2030.

This assignment required students to have deep interdisciplinary knowledge, the ability to work with technical and economic information, and to propose creative but feasible projects.

According to the results of an intense struggle, three teams representing the Talent Center of the Kemerovo Melnichenko Foundation took the entire podium of the qualifying stage.:

1st place – "Engineers of the Future";

2nd place – "Cards, money, two cups";

3rd place – "Case&Cause".

Special congratulations to the Phoenix team, which also became one of the top 12 teams in the overall standings and secured a place in the finals. The team was created by the students of the basic schools of the Siberian Generating Company (SGC), who are trained in the Design Workshop of the SGC of the Kemerovo Talent Center.

"This was the first time for the guys to participate in such a high–level competition," says Konstantin Ushakov, mentor of the Phoenix team and associate professor of the Department of Thermal Power Engineering at KuzSTU. – They not only brilliantly understood the complex technical task, but also proved themselves to be a real team, where everyone was responsible for their own area of work – from analyzing infrastructure problems to calculating the economic effect. Seeing students' eyes light up with the realization that their ideas can really change the work of a large enterprise for the better is the best reward for a mentor. I am sure that this success will be a springboard to their future profession."

Thus, the Kemerovo region – Kuzbass will be represented in the finals of the tournament by four of the strongest teams, which indicates the high level of training of young specialists in the region and their ability to solve complex engineering and technological problems.

The final will be held on November 26 in Moscow at the MEI Research Institute, where the teams will defend their decisions before an expert jury.

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