From student case to real production: CASE-IN finalists compete for internships at Gazprom Energoholding

Gazprom Energoholding LLC is a strategic partner and initiator of the launch of the Thermal Power Engineering direction of the International Engineering CASE-IN Championship: the company develops real production tasks for students, and then examines their solutions. The employer is ready to offer prospects for a successful career start to the winners of the Presidential platform project "Russia – the land of opportunities".  

The Thermal Power Engineering direction was launched in 2023 and is one of the youngest in the championship. Despite this, the track has already gained popularity among students who want to connect their fate with energy, and annually unites dozens of universities throughout Russia. 

In 2026, based on the main theme of the CASE-IN championship, "Technologies of the Future," Gazprom Energoholding Group specialists developed an interesting case study that focuses on developing a digital process model for a thermal power plant unit and creating a digital twin of one of its critical components. During the qualifying stage, the youth teams had to immerse themselves in the digitalization of the energy sector and the introduction of artificial intelligence, as well as design a smart power plant of the future. And all this is within the framework of the strategic task of achieving Russia's technological sovereignty.

The company's experts, having reviewed the developments of the contestants, identified 12 finalist teams of the competition. The final of the championship, which will be held on May 20-22 in Moscow, will feature the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, the National Research University "MEI" and its branch in Volzhsky, Samara State Technical University, Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Omsk State University of Railway Communications, the Russian State Agrarian University of the Ministry of Agriculture named after K.A. Timiryazev, St. Petersburg-Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design, Kuzbass State Technical University named after T.F. Gorbachev, Ivanovo State Power Engineering University named after V.I. Lenin, Kazan State Power Engineering University and Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

The case turned out to be practically significant and quite complex due to the scale of the task, said the captain of the finalist team, Economizer Evgeny Ushak. "The limited amount of open data and the lack of direct access to the facility required the team to delve deeply into production processes and carefully balance technical implementation with economic efficiency. The direction is certainly promising, as it affects a key element of the energy system – the source of heat and electricity supply."- he noted.

For Evgeny Ushak, this is his first experience of participating in the championship. His main expectation from the final is a meeting with strong teams and the opportunity to evaluate professional approaches to solving the problem. "The result is not measured solely by victory, we are also waiting for a dialogue with the industry., – the student emphasized. – For us, a successful performance is not only a victory, but also a detailed feedback on the correctness of the ideas invested in the project. Clearly communicating our thoughts to the experts will already be an important result and an incentive for development, even if the final scores are not the maximum." 

Mark Mironchuk The team of "Heatye" (Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University) plans not only to achieve victory in the decisive competition, but also to receive high-quality feedback on the decision from the strongest industry experts. 

The captain of the team is confident that thermal energy is of particular importance for Russia: "Almost any sphere of life requires energy resources in one form or another. Digital twins will save resources for the production of heat and electricity. It also becomes possible to predict the operating modes of the network and the station itself. This increases the reliability and flexibility of the resource supply system." 

The Thermal Power engineering direction serves as the basis for the functioning of all industries and social infrastructure, being a key factor in the country's energy security, said the captain of the THERMOIDS team (Kuzbass State Technical University named after T.F. Gorbachev) Pavel Fadeev: "Every year, the quality of working through the tasks in the case increases, which increases the complexity of their implementation. But at the same time, during the solution, the team receives more and more new knowledge and competencies that will help them become in-demand specialists in their industry in the present and future. I would like to thank the organizers for their invaluable experience in solving production problems and for the opportunity to speak to numerous experts in the field of energy, which served as the foundation for the formation and development of my professional career."

Pavel, who has been participating in the championship since 2023, expects an exchange of ideas with peers from other regions of Russia from the final. "To feel, and most importantly, to see in the eyes of experts the interest in our solution of the case is an indicator that for me will mean 'I have performed successfully', – He added.

The champions and prize-winners of the championship will be able to go on paid internships in partner companies with the possibility of further employment, and will receive preferential conditions for admission to master's and postgraduate studies at leading universities. They will also travel to industry youth educational forums.

Technologies that will heat cities and light enterprises tomorrow are being born in the "Thermal Power Engineering" CASE-IN direction. Their authors are ready for "adult" tasks and will certainly contribute to the development of the Russian energy industry. 

Gazprom Energoholding LLC is a vertically integrated holding company (100% subsidiary Gazprom PJSC), manages Gazprom Group companies in the electric power industry and power engineering according to uniform corporate standards. It is a leader in the production of electric and thermal energy by thermal generation companies.

 The company owns controlling stakes in Mosenergo PJSC, MOEK PJSC,
PJSC TGC-1 and PJSC OGK-2. The Group includes about 80 power plants with an installed capacity of about 36 GW (electric) and 75.4 thousand Gcal/hour (thermal).