Two-time CASE-IN winner Anna Petrenko: the championship develops professional and educational trajectories

The International Engineering CASE-IN Championship today consists of hundreds of success stories of young people who, through solving engineering cases, were able to achieve recognition from the industry community and took an important step towards a professional career.  

A striking example is Anna Petrenko. Studying for a bachelor's degree at Yaroslavl State Technical University and then a master's degree at the National Research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, she regularly participated in one of the projects of the presidential platform "Russia – the land of Opportunities", repeatedly made it to the finals of the competition and twice raised the champion's cup over her head. 

Anna's acquaintance with CASE-IN began in 2020, when she and her team reached the semifinal stages of the main season and the Autumn Cup. The girl realized that she could achieve more, so a year later she returned to the CASE-IN, this time triumphantly. The SSD team, captained by Anna Petrenko, a student of JAGTU, won the gold of the Autumn Cup.

The guys successfully solved a case study on the development of climate projects in permafrost conditions, the formulation of proposals for reducing emissions and decarbonization of ALROSA production.

"Last year, our team failed to reach the finals, but we decided not to give up and continue participating," said the winner in 2021. – Now luck has smiled, and we have become champions. The secret of our success is that we were not afraid to completely change the project in the final and, in fact, start solving the case from scratch. Preparation, experience and unity helped us to quickly rebuild and show good results."

The reward for the victory for Anna and her teammates was a one-and-a-half-month internship at the largest diamond mining company ALROSA.

Even then, the student had formed requirements for future employers: "Companies that base their work on solving case problems and the project method are interesting. It is desirable that the company has access to international partners to study and integrate advanced technologies introduced outside the country into Russia. The fundamental requirements for the company are the opportunity for continuous professional development and improvement."

The organizers of the championship, noticing Anna Petrenko's extraordinary thinking and talent, invited her to a press conference at the TASS news agency. At the event, she told the heads of relevant ministries and major companies about the acquired skills and the value of the championship.

Having achieved success, the girl did not stop and continued to assemble teams to participate in the engineering competition. In 2021, she presented her project to the industry community at the Youth Day of the Russian Energy Week, and in 2025, as a graduate student at the MGSU, she again won the Autumn Cup. 

Anna, together with her "Prestressed" team, handled a case from the Government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, which is dedicated to solving the problem of personnel shortages in the region's energy sector in the context of digital transformation and the transition to renewable energy sources. Students have developed a practice-oriented career guidance program for all levels of education in the region, from schoolchildren to universities, taking into account the emergence and development of new digital specialties. Measures to stimulate professional retraining and advanced training of energy industry personnel were also proposed.  

Team captain Anna Petrenko noted that participation in the CASE-IN championship contributes to the development of her professional and educational trajectories: "Since 2021, I had a clear intention to repeat my success with a new, young team. From season to season, I continue to form teams, transferring the accumulated experience and project competencies to new participants. This championship is also of special importance for the children: interest in it was formed back in their school years, and they have been striving for victory for several years. During this time, there has been significant growth, both in the quality of presentations and the culture of protecting design decisions, as well as in the depth of case study." 

It is worth noting that participation in the championship helps the girl to achieve success in other large-scale federal projects. So, in 2022, Anna became the recipient of a scholarship from the President of Russia.

"At the championship, I was able to master the skills of teamwork and effective interaction with colleagues," said Anna Petrenko. – Also, having adapted to new conditions, I have learned to work under pressure and make quick decisions in difficult situations. The championship is also about managing time and resources to achieve your goals."

In her opinion, young people should definitely participate in the projects of the presidential platform "Russia is a country of opportunities." They will provide not only real–world experience and professional skills, but also, already at the training stage, the opportunity to try themselves as specialists in various fields and decide on a future profession.