Engineering cases: for the first time in the Chelyabinsk region!

On March 20, 2015, the National Research South Ural State University hosted the qualifying stage of the Electric Power Industry League  The All-Russian Championship for solving fuel and energy cases.

SUSU is one of the 17 universities of the Electric Power Engineering League, which was included in the Championship program for the first time. The practical orientation of the training of future specialists is a priority for the university, therefore, the opportunity to participate in the Championship and the experience of solving cases was recognized by the SUSU leadership as extremely valuable for the university.

Welcoming the participants and guests of the Championship, SUSU Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Andrey Schmidt expressed confidence in the excellent preparation of the university's students: "Projects such as the Case-solving Championship orient the university's educational process towards practical exercises. I am sure that our energy students will offer truly innovative and non-standard solutions to the problems of the case and will adequately represent the university at the finals in Moscow."

Sergey Ganzha, Dean of the SUSU Faculty of Energy and Head of the Department of Theoretical Foundations of Electrical Engineering at SUSU, thanked SUSU for including SUSU in the competition plan of the League for Electric Power Engineering: "The backbone of the development of our university is the maximum approximation of the educational process to real production. Therefore, we are pleased with the opportunity that the Championship provides to our students - the opportunity to get involved in real production tasks, offer their solutions, and compare them with real solutions of professionals that have been implemented in practice."

Each stage of the Championship is of practical interest to employers in the region - leading fuel and energy companies interested in attracting the best young professionals. The opportunity to see and evaluate the work of students of the branch university led to participation in the stage of the Branch of JSC SO UES "Regional Dispatching Department of the Chelyabinsk Region Energy System".

Igor Myagchenkov, Head of the Branch's Electrical Modes Service, noted the company's established partnership with SUSU: "The Case-solving Championship in the field of electric power industry is a new stage of our cooperation, which will allow the Branch to select new promising young people and attract them to internships, internships, and then to work in our Branch."

Irakli Khelaya, a member of the Board of the NP Youth Forum of Mining Leaders, told the students and guests of the stage about the history of the Championship and about the modern requirements that the Fuel and energy Complex imposes on young specialists.: "For a successful career, it is no longer enough just to get good grades at the university. The industry needs young and talented specialists who are able to justify their point of view, work in a team and solve difficult tasks. The Case Study Championship not only allows you to identify such people, it gives you the opportunity to become such a specialist and acquire relevant knowledge and skills."

6 teams of SUSU Faculty of Energy students competed for the right to represent the university at the finals of the Championship in Moscow.  The solution of the case "Development and selection of the optimal scheme for the supply of electric energy to a CHPP during its reconstruction" was evaluated by experts - teachers of the SUSU Faculty of Energy and industry representatives from the Branch of JSC SO UES  Regional Dispatching Department of the Power System of the Chelyabinsk Region and the Branch of IDGC of the Urals JSC "Chelyabenergo". 

The winner of the SUSU qualifying stage was the team "Electric power plants of the System and Networks - 1" consisting of 5th year students of the Department "Electric Power Plants, Networks and Systems" of the SUSU Faculty of Energy Vitaly Krizhevskikh (team captain), Evgeny Gorshkov, Nikita Ergunov, Natalia Michkareva. 

The experience of cooperation within the framework of the Championship was highly appreciated by the leaders of South Ural State University, who expressed their willingness to participate in other projects of the foundation. The logical conclusion of the stage was the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between South Ural State University and the Reliable Shift Foundation.  The purpose of the Memorandum is joint actions in the field of youth and personnel policy aimed at professional orientation, formation of an active professional and civic position among the youth of the fuel and energy complex of Russia. On behalf of the University, the Memorandum was signed by the rector of the University, Alexander Shestakov, and on behalf of the Reliable Shift Foundation, the director of the Foundation, Artem Korolev.

The general partners of the Championship are: JSC "System Operator of the Unified Energy System", JSC "Siberian Coal Energy Company", Micromine company, JSC "MHC "EuroChem", LLC "Siberian Generating Company", EVRAZ company, JSC "Yuzhkuzbassugol", RUSDRAGMET Management Company, LLC "Dasso System Djeovia RUS".

Stage photo