Artem Korolev: "CASE-IN" and MGRI-RGGRU educate the elite of geological exploration

After summing up the results of the qualifying stage of the Championship, Svetlana Luchko, Head of the Public Relations Department, met with Artyom Sergeevich Korolev, Director of the Reliable Shift Educational Project Foundation, the initiator and chief organizer of one of Russia's largest educational projects for the youth of the Fuel and Energy Complex and the International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN".

- Artem Sergeevich, how difficult is it to organize and hold such an event?

- It all started in 2012. At that time, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation was working to create a program for the development of the coal industry until 2030. And one of the areas of this work was devoted to working with human resources and youth. When they started looking at it - I was still working in the ministry at the time - they realized that there was absolutely no youth activity in this industry.

We thought about it, saw the situation, and decided to hold a series of youth events that would highlight the industry in a positive light and popularize specialized specialties. After all, we all know that the federal agenda only talks about mines when something happens in them: either an accident has happened, or another negative thing.

We wanted to block this trend with positive information directly related to youth. It has succeeded to some extent.

"In what way?"

- We have come up with a series of events. And one of them was based on case studies - special professional tasks. We conducted it at the Moscow (now MISIS) and St. Petersburg Mining Institutes. From the experience of the first forum, we realized that this format is interesting. In 2013, the first Mining Championship was held, and your university also participated in it. As a result, we received the most positive feedback from companies and experts, from university teachers. Since 2013, our project has been steadily developing. Every year there are more and more directions, participants, and the expert pool is expanding.

Recently, many companies, before hiring a young specialist, look at his resume for his experience in solving practical problems and engineering cases, including through participation in our engineering championship. This is now a very important point for the employer.

- why?

- Because the employer understands perfectly well that if there is participation in solving professional problems, then the young specialist already has some experience, is quite active outside the educational process. And if it also says that he is a finalist or a winner, then it is clear that he is a person of a high professional level and, having come to work, will be able to adapt to the workplace in a short time and quickly show sufficiently high achievements.

- Is there any progress compared to last year in this Championship, what is it? What are your impressions as an organizer?

- Yes, we are growing every year in terms of the number of universities participating in the Championship, and in terms of partners, and in terms of the level of student training, and in terms of content, too. The cases themselves are improving every year, becoming more interesting, better, and more in-depth from the practical side. Together with us, experts from partner industry companies are closely involved in the development of cases, so the number of flaws and errors is minimized. Of course, there is a dynamic.

In terms of the organization of the Championship, systematic work with universities, on the site of which the qualifying stages are held, is very important. We are well aware that holding our event is a certain kind of stress for the university. Accordingly, we help: we develop methodological materials and recommendations, take on the key points of the organizational process, and carry out part of the project procurement.

However, the most important thing in organizing the Championship is the will of the university leadership, the desire of people here, on the spot, to actively participate in everything. It is impossible to organize and hold such an event without you. 

- This time you saw this desire, what was it manifested in?

- It was planned to open six industry areas of the Championship this year, six universities have confirmed their readiness. The opening of the Championship is a great honor that the finalist students have won for their university. And it is also a great responsibility that requires the concentration of efforts of the university management.

Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude to your University for organizing the opening of the "Case-In 2018". For the activity of volunteer assistants, expert teachers who advised the teams and prepared for this event. I would like to note once again that the level of training and organization is clearly growing every year. The dynamics are very positive, and your University has given it a start this year.

- Do you observe a change in the level of competence of the participants themselves – the students - at the initial stage of the Championship and today?

- When we talk to the participants about the cases, we invite them to participate, we say: for you, this is definitely a way out of your comfort zone. But we guarantee that:

First, you will upgrade all professional knowledge, and the material for this "upgrade" will be provided directly by the operating company. In everyday life, you will never get access to the kind of material that we give you in the case. It is clear that part of it is protected by trade secrets: for example, economic indicators have been changed because they cannot be disclosed. But 90% of the information is absolutely real.

Secondly, it is in the cases that you will find everything related to personal skills that our education system does not yet provide, which are practice-oriented, role-playing, teamwork, and project activities. Classical educational forms, such as lectures, seminars, and laboratory work, are also not outdated. But here the guys are given the opportunity to become an expert group, to feel like adults making decisions. All this manifests and develops personal qualities, does things that traditional educational forms are simply not designed for.

In general, if we compare the level of competence of the participants in the early years of the championship and today, then a big breakthrough is obvious. Now the preparation is completely different. At the same time, those who come to us for the second or third year are, of course, almost professionals. They're nice to look at. There are finalists who won on the third attempt. There were guys who participated for four years in a row.

- What attracts the guys to the Championship and makes them come back?

- There is such an important point – feedback. A certain expert is assigned to each team. After the competition ends, the guys surround the experts and they explain what was a good decision, what was wrong, tell them how to do it so that everything would be fine; what to look for in the future; show different solutions.

The experts of the Championship are always specialists who are ready to give such feedback, share their experience, and are able to be mentors and communicate with the guys. Together with partner companies, we specially select such experts from among their employees and believe that this is a very important moment contributing to the professional and personal growth of the participants.

- Is it possible to consider "Case-In" how is the social elevator?

- Yes, definitely. For example, we usually have 300-330 finalists who come to the finals every year, with only one team representing each University in one field. And now you have three teams in three areas in the finals.

At the same time, we receive the following statistics from companies. 80% of the finalists receive offers from partner companies. This is either an internship/internship, or admission to a targeted master's degree program or employment for a vacancy. Everyone who comes to the finals gets a job later. The company's reasoning is this: they made a selection for it, brought the best, managers and HR specialists, and the company's technologists personally saw the candidates in action. Why not hire them?

Therefore, the Championship final is a good opportunity for the guys not only to find a job, but also to make a career. And then everything depends only on the participant himself. This year, the opportunities of your University's students have tripled.

- Artem Sergeyevich, please tell us a secret. Is it true that companies solve their production tasks with the help of case participants, i.e. the technological solutions found here find their application in production?.

- Not all companies have reached this idea yet, although their number is increasing every year.Now the cases are compiled by real market participants, among them SO UES, SIBUR, FGC UES, Rosneft, Mycromine, these are real-format cases. They are either written by the company itself, or processed with the help of our experts and brought up to the level of the Championship.

Any company is always waiting for some breakthrough technological solutions. Today's topic is the development of the Arctic. We are also waiting for non−trivial solutions that will be considered at the level of our official partner companies. As a result, we plan to release a collection of "Proposals of the participants of the Case-in 2018 on the development of Arctic territories", which we will submit to industry departments and working groups on the development of the Arctic region of Russia. You and I are well aware that it is difficult to solve a specific problem or task without being in production. But it is quite possible to offer a broader view of the problem.

- Our University is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. What would you wish for the anniversary of a unique university in the country?

- First of all, I would like to congratulate the University on this wonderful date! The Russian State Geological Exploration University is a leading university, a forge of geological exploration personnel in our country, and a school attended by all the most prominent specialists in this industry. It's great that your University hosted the opening of the Case-in Engineering Exploration championship in the jubilee year. The field of geological exploration within the framework of the "Case-in" is being held for the fourth year in a row. Your students have become champions twice. I would like to wish you that the high level of training of your guys not only remains, but also develops further, so that they have no equal! So that your students can continue to win finals!

Most importantly, I would like to wish that your educational traditions are preserved and developed! And so that the work with the "CASE-IN", as it is built thanks to teachers and educational materials, continues.

- Can you confirm that our University educates the elite of geological exploration?

- Absolutely. The CASE-IN International Engineering Championship is the leading educational project in the field of fuel and energy and mineral resources complexes in our country, and your students have won it twice. Of course, your students are among the best in the industry. They can rightfully be called the intellectual elite of our great Russia.