Summary of the #BrighterTogether Youth Day at the Russian Energy Week International Forum
On 6 October, the #BrighterTogether Youth Day at the Russian Energy Week International Forum was held in Moscow.
The #BrighterTogether Youth Day at the Russian Energy Week International Forum is a major youth event focused on energy efficiency and development of the energy industry, which brings together the best representatives of the mining and energy sectors to interact with business executives and leading experts, and to shape the youth agenda for key industry events.
This Youth Day was organized by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and the Government of Moscow.
For the fifth year running, the Reliable Rising Generation Foundation acted as the Youth Day’s organizing committee.
In 2018, Youth Day was timed to coincide with the All-Russian Energy Conservation Festival #BrighterTogether, a broad nationwide initiative to promote energy efficiency, enhance the status of the fuel and energy industry, and guide children and young people towards careers in the energy sector.
In total, 3,520 young specialists, students, and schoolchildren took part in Youth Day, along with 700 government representatives, Energy Ministry officials, and business executives.
Informal meeting with the ministers
The participants’ meeting with the Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak and the Minister of Science and Higher Education Mikhail Kotyukov was the focal event in this Youth Day.
Alexander Novak highlighted the unprecedented scale of REW 2018, which has become an important international platform for discussions about the energy sector’s development. More than 60 events were held at REW 2018, 70 projects were reviewed, and most projects were developed with the participation of young people, Alexander Novak emphasized. “It is very important that young specialists enter the energy sector and introduce new ideas. No industry can move forward without this engagement,” the minister noted.
Mikhail Kotyukov mentioned the need to develop educational programmes focused on involving young people in the industry: “The industry really needs the energy of young enthusiastic people who set themselves ambitious goals. Our primary task, therefore, is to create information and communication platforms for young people in order to get them involved in the development and implementation of the projects in the sector.”
During the meeting, participants asked officials about the development of energy and engineering education in Russia. In addition, the ministers presented the winners of youth contests held during REW 2018 with awards.
Roundtable: Promoting Careers in Engineering, Technical and Engineering Education, and the Development of New Technologies
A roundtable on the promotion of engineering careers, engineering education and the development of new technologies was held during Youth Day.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Minister of Energy Anton Inyutsyn, Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Alexander Bugayev, and Head of the Department of Government Policy in Higher Education and Youth Policy at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education Artemy Rozhkov. It was attended by heads of country’s leading technical universities and representatives of companies in the fuel, energy, and mineral resources sectors. Artem Korolev, Director of the Reliable Rising Generation Foundation, moderated the meeting.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Energy Minister of the Russian Federation Anton Inyutsyn said: “Raising the prestige of engineering professions, promoting an engineering and technical education as one of the key drivers for the further technological and innovative development of the fuel and energy sector, is an important area for collaboration between government bodies, energy companies, leading universities, scientific entities, and NGOs.”
Key youth events in the fuel and energy sector were also discussed.
The events identified by Inyutsyn as being held on the largest scale and as having the greatest effect included Youth Day at Russian Energy Week, the #BrighterTogether All-Russian Energy Conservation Festival, Open Door Days at fuel and energy sector facilities, competitions aimed at finding engineering solutions held as part of the CASE-IN International Engineering Championship, and the Youth All-Russian Production Conference (rebranded Youth Science and Technology Councils), among others. “Efforts to promote the fuel and energy sector, energy saving and education in engineering and technology are becoming ever more systematic and consolidated,” the Deputy Minister emphasized.
Alexander Bugayev, head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, emphasized: “Engineering personnel are the basis of our future, our technological breakthroughs. Therefore, we fully support all measures aimed at promoting engineering professions.”
“Cooperation with the real sector of economy, including as part of Russian Energy Week, is an important area for us,” said Artemy Rozhkov, Head of the Department of Government Policy in Higher Education and Youth Policy at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. “We have representatives of the leading companies in the fuel and energy sector present here today. Their cooperation will help enhance the quality of engineering education,” he noted.
During the meeting, the best practices and projects were discussed, opinions were shared and the All-Russian List of Youth Events in 2019 was mapped out. This list is aimed at promoting the fuel and energy sector, energy saving, and education in engineering and technology, and is approved by the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. In conclusion, a number of companies and higher education institutions were awarded special diplomas for their significant contribution to the promotion of engineering professions and education in engineering and technology.
Forecasting Technological Developments in Russia’s Fuel and Energy Sector to 2030
Youth Day also provided a platform for the unveiling of a forecast of technological development in Russia’s fuel and energy sector to 2030 “through young people’s eyes”.
The discussion of challenges faced by the power industry was attended by the Deputy Minister of Energy Anton Inyutsyn, the winners of the Global Energy Prize, academician Sergey Alekseyenko of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Martin Green, professor at the University of New South Wales, as well as teams that presented their draft ‘Forecast for the Technological Development in Russia’s Energy and Fuel Sector until 2030 in the Context of Global Trends’.
This Forecast was developed through a three-stage contest lasting over 6 months. During this time, the teams identified and analyzed trends in the advancement of the Russian energy industry, and produced recommendations on shaping the country’s energy policy and developing its institutions. The teams’ work was evaluated by experts from leading scientific and educational institutions.
Following the contest, four winning teams in each category were identified; they presented their projects at Youth Day.
Young Specialists category:
• Energy Guardians (RusHydro);
• Operator of the Future (System Operator of the Unified Energy System);
• Hydra (Joint team supported by Russia’s Hydropower Association, including young specialists from RusHydro, RusHydro IT Service, executive administration of Russia’s Hydropower Association, Hydroproject Institute, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, StaDyO, Reshape Analytics);
• Arctic Energy (Gazpromneft).
Students category:
• WeWatt (St Petersburg Mining University);
• Baikal Energy (Irkutsk National Research Technical University);
• Iskra (Kazan State Power Engineering University)
• Potential (Moscow Power Engineering Institute).
The awards were presented to the winners by the Minister of Energy Alexander Novak and the Minister of Science and Higher Education Mikhail Kotyukov.
Runner-up teams were given their prizes by the Deputy Minister of Energy Anton Inyutsyn and the winners of the Global Energy Prize, academician Sergey Alekseyenko of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Martin Green, professor at the University of New South Wales.
The prize winners and participants in the ‘Forecast for the Technological Development in Russia’s Energy and Fuel Sector to 2030’ project received the ‘Rivers and Lakes of the World’ encyclopedia from the Russia’s Hydropower Association, among other prizes.
CASE-IN Young Specialists’ League: Prospects for development of the energy sector in the Russian Far East and Sakhalin
CASE-IN International Engineering Championship Young Specialists’ League competitions were held during the Youth Day.
The Young Specialists’ League competitions were held during the Youth Day in 2017 for the first time. Throughout the year, competitions were held during the largest industry forums.
The qualifying round, held during the #BrighterTogether Youth Day 2018, concluded this year of Young Professionals League competitions: the company that won the first place in the ranking was announced on the Youth Day’s main stage.
The largest companies operating in the Russian fuel, energy and mining sectors took part in the qualifying round competitions: Gazprom Transgaz Moscow, Gazpromeft NTC, T Plus Saratovsky Branch, MOESK, Mosenergo, Raspadskaya Mining Company, Novolipetsk Steel, IDGC of Centre, SO UES, R&D Center at FGC UES, SIBUR Tobolsk, Tatneft, SIBUR Neftekhim, Siberian Generating Company.
#BrighterTogether Youth Day at REW 2018 offers young people a platform to suggest strategic initiatives for the industry’s further development to executives in the energy sector, so the Young Specialists’ League faced an equally ambitious challenge. They were tasked with predicting the future development of the energy sector in the Russian Far East and Sakhalin: to plan the indicators and the state of the economy, transport infrastructure and energy industry in Sakhalin until 2030 and determine the need for a bridge or a tunnel that would connect the Sakhalin Island with the mainland.
NLMK Team, representing Novolipetsk Steel was the winner.
TatIQ team of Tatneft won second prize.
Arctic Impulse team representing R&D Center at FGC UES won third prize.
The Young Specialists’ League of the CASE-IN International Engineering Championship during the #BrighterTogether Youth Day was supported by SO UES JSC.
The winners of the Young Specialists League 2018 were announced during the meeting with the Minister of Energy Alexander Novak and the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Mikhail Kotyukov. The Ministers presented the Young Specialists League awards to representatives of Tatneft, as these teams had won prizes several times during the year. The complete ranking of companies participating in the Young Professionals League of Young Professionals may be found on the CASE-IN International Engineering Championship website.
Final Round in the All-Russian Competition for Undergraduate Theses on Electrical and Power Engineering
People studying for bachelor's and master's degrees in higher education institutions in technology submitted their projects for the All-Russian сompetition for undergraduate theses on electrical and power engineering. This competition also concluded during Youth Day.
The master's students winners were:
• 1st place: Mikhail Senyuk, Yeltsin Ural Federal University;
• 2nd place: Gleb Nesterenko, Novosibirsk State University;
• 3rd place: Andrey Korobets, Saratov State Technical University.
The bachelor's category winners were:
• 1st place: Tatyana Strebkova, NorthCaucasus Federal University;
• 2nd place: Dmirty Naumenko, Novosibirsk State University;
• 3rd place: Ilya Komarov, Omsk State Technical University
Competition prize-winners will take part in the School of Leaders in Energy, which is an educational project for the winners of events held as part of collaboration between FGC UES and SO UES under the auspices of the Russian National Committee of CIGRE Youth Section events and the SO UES student event plan.
The projects proposed by the contest winners will also be submitted to the Technical Committee of the CIGRE RNC. The selected participants will present their reports at the electric power industry’s largest global event: the 48th session of the CIGRE in Paris, which will be held in 2020.
The competition is held under the auspices of the RNC of the CIGRE Youth Section, Rosseti, FGC UES, and SO UES.
Interactive sessions
One of the Youth Day’s regular formats is interactive sessions focused on developing youth projects aimed at the advancement and promotion of Russia’s fuel and energy sector.
At these interactive sessions, teams develop their projects and submit them to experts who select the best initiatives and recommend them for implementation in the following year.
In 2018, the projects developed by participants in the interactive sessions were evaluated in two nomination categories (Social Focus and Technological Focus) and two age categories (Students and Young Professionals).
The Minister of Energy Alexander Novak and the Minister of Science and Higher Education Mikhail Kotyukov presented the winners with their awards.
Runner-up teams were given their awards by the Director of the Artem Korolev, Director of the Reliable Rising Generation Foundation, and Igor Chausov, member of the EnergyNet Architecture and Technology Committee of the National Technology Initiative.
The prize-winners and participants in the interactive sessions received the ‘Rivers and Lakes of the World’ encyclopedia from the Russia’s Hydropower Association, among other prizes.
Energy and Youth Initiatives 2019
Russian Energy Week Youth Day ended on a positive note with the concluding session Energy of Youth Initiatives 2019, which presented key youth initiatives aimed at promoting energy saving lifestyle and energy-efficient technologies, developing education in engineering, and energizing the youth community in the energy sector.
The session was led by Deputy Minister of Energy Anton Inyutsyn and Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Roman Kamaev.
In his opening statement, Anton Inyutsyn noted that the number of participants in REW Youth Day is increasing steadily from year to year. “We have launched major projects across the country and are involving students and young specialists: #BrighterTogether, fuel and energy companies’ Doors Open days, youth councils on science and technology, youth’s Forecast for technological development in Russia’s fuel and energy sector, and the Case-In International Engineering Championship. I hope that next year we will be equally successful in implementing the initiatives proposed now,” the Deputy Minister of Energy said.
In his speech, Roman Kamaev emphasized that Youth Day serves as an important way to effectively bolster students’ and young professionals’ interest in scientific and creative work in the power industry and wished all those creating new initiatives success in their endeavours.
The following youth initiatives were presented at the final session:
• Maria Sadokhina, student of the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, with the initiative “Expansion of the All-Russian #BrighterTogether Festival and holding festivals abroad”;
• Elizaveta Bakina, student of the National University of Science and Technology MISiS, with the initiative “Launch of the All-Russian Young Engineers Community”;
• Ilya Kozlov, young specialist of Rosseti, with the initiative “Doors Open Days at the enterprises of the fuel and energy complex as the joint industry action”;
• Sofia Shubina, student of Kazan State Power Engineering University, with the initiative “Youth All-Russian Production Meeting”;
• Alexander Kormishin, Chairman of the BRICS Youth Energy Agency, with the initiative Youth Outlook for Global Energy Development;
• Anastasia Melnikova, lecturer at St. Petersburg State University of Economics, with the initiative “Increasing the role of championships to solve engineering cases in the educational process and research activities of Russian and foreign universities”.
All of the submitted initiatives were met with support from the experts; the initiatives are expected to form the basis of the youth agenda for the fuel and energy industry in 2019.
Summit of the BRICS Youth Energy Agency
With the support of the Russian Ministry of Energy, the BRICS Youth Energy Agency summit was held; it is a key international forum, the purpose of which is to support dialogue between young people in the field of energy industry across the BRICS countries.
The Summit also hosted the ‘Sustainable Energy for the Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation’ Youth Model, where students at the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas and MGIMO presented road maps for energy sustainability across the federal districts.
The summit concluded with a plenary discussion ‘India and Russia: Energy Cooperation.’
Round table ‘Forming an Energy Efficient Society: Where are the Professionals?’
Representatives of the Moscow Aviation Institute held a round table titled “Forming an Energy Efficient Society: Where are the Professionals?” With the support of the Committee on Energy Efficiency of the All-Russian Public Organization ‘Free Economic Society of Russia’ and the Commission on Electric Power, Heat Engineering and Energy Efficiency of the All-Russian Public Organization ‘Business Russia’.
During the round table event, student cards were given to first year students on undergraduate and graduate programmes at the Moscow Aviation Institute’s Energy Services and Energy Saving Management Department, which is the first in Russia to provide training in the Energy Management and Energy Service programmes.
KVN comedy and improvisation challenge #BrighterTogether 2018
The final event was the #BrighterTogether KVN Cup, held for the first time during the Youth Day. The comedy and improvisation challenge was held with the support from the partner of the #BrighterTogether festival, State Corporation Housing and Utilities Reform Fund.
Four teams took part in the game: Resistance Is Futile (Rosseti), G-Drive (Gazpromneft), Black Gold (SUEK), Plastic World (SIBUR). The teams participated in traditional KVN contests: Greeting, Biathlon and Musical homework.
The panel of judges comprised the representatives of the Housing and Utilities Reform Fund, the Russian Ministry of Energy, Rospredprinimatel Federal state institution and members of the RUDN Team, 2006 champions of the KVN Major League.
G-Drive team, representing Gazpromneft became the first champion of the #BrighterTogether KVN Cup was the (final score 10.8).
Rosseti’s team Resistance Is Futile came second (final score 10.6).
SUEK’s Black Gold team was in third place (final score 9.8).
Teams were awarded diplomas signed by Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.
The complete results of the #BrighterTogether Youth Day of the Russian Energy Week International Forum may be found at the website of the project’s organizing committee, the Reliable Rising Generation Foundation.
