The Final Is ahead!

All-Russian Fuel and Energy Case Solving Championship:
The Final is ahead!

In early May 2015, the program of the qualifying stages of the All-Russian Fuel and Energy Case Solving Championship was completed. The championship has entered its final phase: on May 28-29, 2015, the winners of the largest engineering case-based educational project in Russia and the CIS countries will be determined in Moscow.

The championship is aimed at identifying and supporting the most promising students of the fuel and energy complex, their professional orientation and practical training, as well as the formation of the personnel reserve of the industry. The project is being implemented with the support of the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives.

 By the organizers The Reliable Change Foundation, the Non-Profit Partnership Youth Forum of Mining Leaders and the Non-Profit Partnership Russian National Committee of the International Council for Large High Voltage Electrical Systems (NP RNC CIGRE) are participating in the Championship.

In three months, the Championship brought together the entire industry at the sites of the qualifying stages. The regional stages were held in a full-time format on the basis of 30 leading universities that train specialists in the fields of mining, geological exploration and electric power industry. About 1,800 of the best students and graduate students took part in the Championship.  45 qualifying rounds were held with the participation of more than 400 experts – representatives of regional authorities, heads of leading Russian fuel and energy companies, heads and representatives of universities and industry scientific organizations.

In March 2015, the Championship reached a qualitatively new level: in accordance with the Government Decree  RF No. 366-r dated March 5, 2015  The championship is included in the annual action plan of the Government of the Russian Federation aimed at popularizing the working and engineering professions.. This recognition gives the project an additional incentive to expand and implement new ideas for working with talented young people in the fuel and energy sector and developing the human resources potential of the industry.

General Partners The participants 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, RUSDRAGMET Management Company, LLC "Dassault System Geovia RUS".

The partners of the individual qualifying stages were: IMC Montan, DMT Company, EVRAZ Company and JSC Raspadskaya Coal Company, JSC HC SDS-Ugol, JSC Rosgeologiya, JSC Territorial Generating Company No. 9, JSC System Operator of the Unified Energy System, JSC MHC EuroChem, JSC Siberian Coal Energy Company", JSC "VIST Group", JSC "Volzhskaya TGC" KES-holding, JSC "Seversky Granite Quarry", JSC "Uralasbest", JSC "Siberian Generating Company", A branch of JSC "SO UES" "United Dispatching Management of energy Systems of the South".

 The official partners of the Championship are the Global Energy Non-Profit Partnership, the Russian Independent Trade Union of Coal Industry Workers, Rosinformugol CJSC, the World Mining Congress, the Vernadsky State Geological Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Mining Sciences, the Scientific and Technical Council of the Unified Energy System Non-Profit Partnership, the Interregional Industrial Association of Employers of Energy Suppliers and others.

The main results of the qualifying stages of the Championship

The qualifying stages of the Championship were held from February to May 2015 in 30 leading universities of Russia and Kazakhstan from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, from Yakutsk to Karaganda. The competitions were held in three leagues: in the electric power industry, mining and geological exploration, and a number of universities participated in two or three leagues at once. During the competition, students from each university, as part of teams of 2-4 people, presented a solution to a case developed on the basis of a real production situation in mining and electric power companies in Russia.

In Mining League 20 universities of Russia and Kazakhstan took part. The league participants solved the engineering case "Choosing the most efficient variant of the mining and transportation complex and increasing the efficiency of its operation."

In competitions Electric Power Industry Leagues 17 universities participated. The students of the Department of Energy solved the case "Development and selection of the optimal scheme for the supply of electric energy to a thermal power plant during its reconstruction."

Competitions Exploration leagues They were trained in 8 universities. The topic of the exploration case "Increasing the profitability of a deposit based on a geological study with the preparation of a work project".

The championship identified and selected 169 of the most promising students from 1,800 participants from 30 industry universities in Russia and Kazakhstan. The project has proven to be highly effective in the educational process: Many teams participated in the Championship for the second or third year, but they made progress in their achievements: they scored more points, entered the top three, or became finalists again.

The students learned how to solve real engineering problems. All three cases of the qualifying stages are based on production situations that took place at the enterprises of the Russian fuel and energy complex. The material for the cases is provided by the partner companies of the Championship. To participate in the Final, students will receive a final engineering case, which will take only 10 days to complete. In addition, on the eve of the Final, participants will receive an additional case, which will be solved a day before the final performance.

The organizers of the Championship are developing long-term partnerships with industry universities. During the Championship, Memorandums of Cooperation were signed with eleven universities with the Reliable Shift Foundation and the Youth Forum of Mining Leaders. The Memorandum provides for cooperation in the field of youth and personnel policy aimed at professional orientation, the formation of an active professional and civic position among the youth of the fuel and energy sector of the Russian Federation. 

The final of the Championship, a grand competition between 45 teams from 30 universities, will be held on May 28-29, 2015 in Moscow. Key companies of the industry and the best representatives of the fuel and energy complex will gather at the site of the Vernadsky State Geological Museum. The Russian Academy of Sciences, to find out: who will join the ranks of the engineering elite of our country tomorrow? 

The most striking stages of the Championship 

NUST MISIS (Moscow)

The grand opening of the Championship took place at NUST MISIS, which was awarded this honor due to the victory of university students in the 2014 Championship. Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, conveyed greetings to the participants and guests of the Championship: "For several years we have been supporting the holding of the Mining Case-Solving Championship and are pleased to note its development and the creation of a case championship for young people in the electric power and exploration industries. The Championship site is a unique opportunity to test your knowledge. By teaming up and competing with the best future specialists from all over Russia, you will be able to get to know your future profession in depth and bring your level of professional training up to real production requirements."

Sergey Mochalnikov, Director of the Coal and Peat Industry Department at the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation: "The tasks that the Government sets for us are becoming more difficult every year. Therefore, the more difficult such professional competitions as the Championship will be, the higher the level of training of specialists will be."

Vladimir Solodov, Head of the Young Professionals Department of Projects and Practices at the Agency for Strategic Initiatives: "The Championship allows you to gain a new level of motivation, compare your strengths in practice, get a real assessment and see a benchmark worth focusing on, including at the international level."

Northeastern State University (Magadan)

As an expert, the jury evaluated the students' decisions personally. Vladimir Pecheny, Governor of the Magadan Region. From V.Pecheny's welcome speech: "The mining industry is a leading one for the Magadan region, so the Championship, as an educational project for future mining specialists, is very important for our region and our task, as a regional government, is to provide it with all possible support. I am sure that the Championship competitions will show fresh, innovative ideas that the mining industry and the fuel and energy complex need today.  I hope that the participants from Northeastern State University will not only demonstrate brilliant solutions today, but will adequately represent the region in the finals of the Championship and become winners.".

Karaganda State Technical University

The overseas qualifying stage of the Championship was held in Kazakhstan.  I sent greetings to the participants and organizers Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Vladimir Shkolnik: "Today we are joining the All-Russian movement to support capable, talented young people who are in great demand in leading industries, among which the fuel and energy complex occupies one of the most important places. I am sure that the Championship will bring together the best representatives of this unique profession on its site, help them identify themselves in the industry, as well as develop a modern set of sought-after competencies."

Zabaykalsky State University (Chita)

The delegation took part in the work of the stage Mongolian State University of Science and Technology (Ulaanbaatar).  The University representatives highly appreciated the level of organization and the content of the Championship and expressed their intention to join the Championship in 2016.

The winner of the mining league stage is the Bulldozer team She became a finalist of the Championship for the second year in a row!

Kuzbass State Technical University named after T.F. Gorbachev (Kemerovo)

The qualifying stages of the mining and electric power engineering leagues have become a truly grandiose competition of minds.  The Mining Institute of KuzSTU fielded 13 teams for the Championship, the Institute of Energy of KuzSTU - 11 teams. The competition in each league was held in two rounds: the semi-final round and the final stage, the decisions of the students in each league were evaluated by two expert juries.

Siberian Federal University (Krasnoyarsk)

In the mining league competitions, the single-mindedness of Andrey Ivanov, the only representative of the Amethyst team who reached the defense, a 3rd-year student of the Mining Machines and Complexes Department at the Siberian Federal University Institute of Mining, Geology and Geotechnology, was particularly noted. The experts appreciated his decision and the high-quality presentation of the case and awarded Andrey a well-deserved bronze medal.

Sergo Ordzhonikidze Russian State Geological Exploration University (Moscow)

In the geological exploration league competitions at MGRI - RGGRU, two teams were recognized as finalists at once, including the guests - a team of geologists from Lomonosov Moscow State University. MSU's full-time participation in the Championship has been postponed to 2015 for technical reasons, but the thirst for victory cannot be postponed to next year. Therefore, the organizers of the Championship, meeting the initiative of the MSU students, invited them to the competition at MGRI - RGGRU. The guests, the Green Air team, brilliantly presented their university and became the silver medalists of the stage.  The determination and high level of preparation of the MSU team led to the jury's decision to invite the silver medalists of the stage to participate in the Championship finals!

Magnitogorsk State Technical University named after G.I. Nosov

To determine the winners of the mining league stage, the experts had to listen twice to the decisions of the 3 teams that scored the same number of points after the first defense!

Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (Moscow)

One of the values of the Championship is to strengthen the Russian and international community of young engineers. For the first time, international teams of future engineers from Russia, Ukraine, Mongolia, Gabon and other countries took part in the Championship. The international team RUDN_BT won the qualifying stage of the geological exploration league. (undergraduates Department of Mineral Deposits and their Exploration named after
V.M. Kreiter, Faculty of Engineering, RUDN University): Tatiana Kondratieva (Russia) and Chinbat Byambazhavna (Mongolia).

Belgorod State National Research University

The winner of the mining league stage is the Bumblebee team She became a finalist of the Championship for the second year in a row!

Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok)

The experience of the Championship organizers in implementing large-scale youth educational projects was highly appreciated by regional authorities. On July 6-12, 2015, Primorsky Krai will host the youth scientific and practical forum "Mining School", a practice-oriented educational project for young people in the mining sector. The Primorsky Krai Administration has decided to provide information, organizational, expert and resource support to the Mining School in 2015 and to assist the Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Development of the Far East in attracting mining companies, as well as scientific, educational and public organizations of the Far Eastern region to participate in the project. Sergey Kovalev, Acting Director Department of Energy, Oil and Gas Complex and Coal Industry of Primorsky Krai: "We are interested in you, young professionals, getting an education and becoming professionally successful in our native land. Therefore, it is very important that the Championship introduces you to the largest employers in our region.  I wish you to show yourself to be real future mining engineers, worthy of taking a place at the best enterprises of Primorsky Krai."