Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University hosted the qualifying stage of the Student League in the field of "Electric Power Engineering" of the XIV season of the International Engineering CASE-IN Championship. The 2026 season is held under the theme "Technologies of the Future" and brings together students who are ready to offer innovative solutions for strategically important sectors of the economy.

The CASE-IN Championship is an international competition system for solving real engineering cases for schoolchildren, students and young professionals. The project serves as a platform for career guidance and youth development, allowing participants to gain practical experience, work with current production tasks and take a confident step towards building a professional career in the fuel and energy complex, nuclear industry and related industries.

Maxim Pasholikov, Vice Rector for Information, Youth Policy and Security at the University, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech, emphasizing the importance of the championship for the training of modern engineering personnel.: "Holding such a large-scale stage is always the result of joint work. I would like to thank the organizers of the championship, representatives of partner companies, experts and, of course, our students for their commitment, responsibility and high level of training. CASE-IN is a space where the university, industry and youth work as a single team."

Viktor Belko, Director of the Higher School of High-Voltage Power Engineering at the Institute of Energy, delivered a parting speech, noting the practical focus of the competition.: "Any serious technological solution is always the result of teamwork. The championship makes it possible to live through this process in a short time: from analyzing the source data to public protection. This is a valuable experience that builds professional maturity."

Among the guests of honor at the opening ceremony was Artemiy Dodnev, a representative of the Committee on Youth Policy and Interaction with Public Organizations, Deputy director of the St. Petersburg State Budgetary Institution VECTOR Center for Youth Employment and Vocational Guidance.

In his speech, he noted the importance of the championship as an effective tool for career guidance and early involvement of young people in solving applied problems in the real sector of the economy, and also stressed the importance of cooperation between universities, employers and authorities in shaping a sustainable career path for young professionals.

This year, the qualifying stage of the Electric Power Industry field was organized by the team of the Institute of Energy and the Student Design Bureau "System Engineering". Graduate and postgraduate student of IE Victoria Krasnikova-Verbnikova assumed the duties of the curator of the direction, as in the past she had repeatedly stood on the podium of the CASE-IN as a winner and prize-winner in several teams.

The Polytech Tower became the gathering point: 11 teams from SPbPU, one from St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation (GUAP), and one from the Russian University of Transport (MIIT) participated in the qualifying stage.

The practical part of the stage was devoted to the protection of engineering case solutions developed on the basis of real production tasks. The teams presented their own technical and organizational proposals, demonstrated calculation models, justification of economic efficiency and assessment of technological risks. The projects were defended in the format of public presentations with answers to the questions of the expert commission.

The projects were evaluated by representatives of educational organizations and industry companies: Chairman of the expert commission - Ivan Sinyansky (STC UES), Ekaterina Burova, Natalia Klyuchareva and Kirill Klimov (all from SPbPU), Daniil Timofeev (CITM "Exponenta"), Dmitry Shemakhanov (JV-Innovation), Andrey Florinsky (branch JSC "System Operator of the Unified Energy System" - Leningrad RDU) and Roman Laboiko (VNIIG named after B.E. Vedeneev). The experts noted the high level of training of the participants, the depth of study of the presented solutions and their practical significance for the development of the electric power industry.

The strategic partner of the Electric Power Industry direction is JSC "System Operator of the Unified Energy System". The partners of the direction are also PJSC RusHydro and LLC Siberian Generating Company, which underlines the high level of industry involvement and the practice-oriented nature of the championship.

An informal feedback session was also held: each expert was assigned a team, whose members of the jury were able to comment on their performances, point out strengths and weaknesses, as well as give advice on presentations and solutions to complex cases.

Following the results of the defense, the winners and prize-winners of the qualifying stage were determined, who will continue to participate in the next stages of the XIV season of the championship and compete for reaching the finals in Moscow.

1st place — Young Elmekhovtsy team, SPbPU (Captain - Tural Gojatov, participants: Andrey Karpukhin, Roman Muzychenko, Dmitry Volkov)
2nd place — Polytech-Energo team, SPbPU (Captain - Polina Ivanova, participants: Elizaveta Pospelova, Georgy Telpiz, Eduard Dubinsky)
3rd place — Watt Matters team, SPbPU (Captain - Veronika Korolyuk, participants: Dina Lokiyaeva, Yulia Spasenkova, Vladislav Kravchenko)

The qualifying stage ended with an award ceremony and an official closing ceremony. The championship once again confirmed its status as an effective platform for interaction between education, business and the state, aimed at forming a talent reserve and developing future technologies.

A source