NCFU hosted the qualifying stage of the VIII International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN"

The North Caucasus Federal University hosted the qualifying stage of the Student League of the VIII International Engineering Championship "CASE-IN", one of the projects of the ANO "Russia – the Land of Opportunities" platform. The winner will represent the region at the end of May at the finals in Moscow.

The student League "CASE-IN" is a full–time team competition of university students in solving engineering cases developed based on materials from industry enterprises. Potential employers set a real engineering task for the students, which the participants had to solve within 10 days, and then publicly state the essence of its solution in 6 minutes.

Ivan Burlak is a 2nd–year master's student enrolled in a specialized specialist training program for JSC System Operator of the Unified Energy System. This is not the first time he has participated in the championship. Last year, his team represented the region at the finals in Moscow. He told me what brought him to the playground again. 

– First of all, it's interesting because there are different difficult tasks. Secondly, it is a good opportunity to show yourself in front of representatives of the energy industry of the region and the country, having proved yourself from the best side," the graduate student shared. 

Dmitry Kostyukov, one of the organizers of the event, a senior lecturer at the NCFU Department of Automated Electric Power Systems and Power Supply, said that he himself took part in the "CASE–IN" at the League of Young Professionals last year.

– This time, the most difficult task has been given in all 6 years of the championship. The students had to analyze the work of the Unified Energy System of Russia and the CIS countries. Based on this analysis, we can propose measures to modernize these systems in order to eventually obtain reliable and cheap electricity supply," Dmitry Kostyukov said.

The expert committee includes potential employers of students. According to one of them, the First Deputy Director General – Gennady Kovtun, Chief Engineer of the FGC UES branch, said that despite the fact that cases are becoming more difficult every year, there are no fewer participants, which means that students are not afraid of difficulties.

– From my point of view, this is a very necessary event. It influences your future vision of energy development in Russia and the CIS countries," Gennady Kovtun addressed the participants.

A specially invited guest, Vitaly Shulzhenko, Minister of Energy, Industry and Communications of the Stavropol Territory, also delivered a welcoming speech to the participants of the championship.     

– I am pleased that the engineering profession has become so in demand in all industries. It is fundamental in the modern world. Stavropol region is unique. Thanks to the work of the Governor and his team, large investments are coming to the region. It is planned to implement alternative energy projects with a total capacity of up to 1.5 gigawatts in the region by 2024," said the head of the relevant department.    

Yuri Kononov, Director of the NCFU Engineering Institute, also delivered a parting speech. He stressed that interest in the championship is only growing every year. The experience gained on the "CASE-IN" will be useful to the children both during further education and when applying for a job.

Then 15 participating teams presented their solutions to the expert committee. The presentation was evaluated according to four criteria: a technical solution, a team presentation, answers to expert questions, and an economic development.

According to these indicators, the Atlanta Frequency team from NCFU was the most successful. She will represent the region at the finals in Moscow.