Development of the students of the Advanced Engineering School at St Petersburg University recognised as the best in Gazprom scientific and educational project
The team of the Advanced Engineering School of St Petersburg University has become the winner of the second season of the youth scientific and educational project ‘Enter IT 2.0’, organised by PJSC Gazprom in cooperation with St Petersburg University and leading universities of the country.
For two months, 14 teams from nine educational institutions were working on the creation of innovative software solutions using artificial intelligence technologies. The participants were tasked with developing a prototype capable of optimising and improving a specific scientific and production task related to the search and production of hydrocarbons. During this time, students had a unique opportunity to work on real-world cases relevant to the industry, receive expert support, and apply their knowledge in practice.
As noted by Anna Sorokina, Co-director of the youth scientific and educational project ‘Enter IT 2.0’, Head of the Events Department of the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University, the contest is a large-scale initiative aimed at developing the technological ecosystem and training highly qualified personnel capable of quickly responding to the challenges of the future. ‘The main goal of the "Enter IT 2.0″ project is to attract talented students and young professionals to solve the challenges of the oil and gas industry using the latest artificial intelligence technologies and digital tools,’ Anna Sorokina said.
PJSC Gazprom, as well as St Petersburg University, actively supports young professionals and creates opportunities for professional growth and the creation of bold innovative solutions. This year, in addition to the Higher School of Economics, the project was organised by the Advanced Engineering School of St Petersburg University, the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University, and Moscow State University.
The project, developed by the Advanced Engineering School of St Petersburg University, was recognised as the most promising, securing victory for the young specialists in the contest. The students proposed an advanced development aimed at improving the efficiency of production processes in the oil and gas industry. The task was to create a formula that predicts the compressibility factor of a gas depending on various conditions such as temperature and pressure. To achieve this goal, the researchers applied special mathematical methods, choosing the formula that best matches the empirical data.
The diverse experience and competencies of the participants made it possible to create a project that meets the requirements of modern industry. The team of the Advanced Engineering School of St Petersburg University included first-year students studying in the master’s programmes of the Advanced Engineering School, representing various main fields of study. Among them were: Troiana Kissler from the Digital Technology in Chemistry programme; Khamid Rakhimov from the Petroleum Engineering programme; Mikhail Suvorov from the Project Management in Digital Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy programme; and Kirill Mukhin from the Digital Technology in Chemistry programme.
The second season of the ‘Enter IT 2.0’ contest started in this February. The initiative is a vivid example of the implementation of the goals of the state programme ‘Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation’. The students were engaged in research and development of intelligent systems capable of optimising processes, reducing costs, and improving production safety. ’The participants had a unique opportunity to work in mixed teams, learning modern approaches to developing innovative solutions under the guidance of experienced mentors and gaining practical experience working on complex tasks of production activities at Gazprom’, said Vyacheslav Polovkov, Director of the Advanced Engineering School at St Petersburg University, Co-director of the project.
The Advanced Engineering School at St Petersburg University strives to train specialists in demand on the labour market who possess both fundamental knowledge and advanced technological competencies and are able to meet modern challenges of technological development of the Russian mineral resource complex. According to the results of the first year of work, the Advanced Engineering School at St Petersburg University has successfully completed all the tasks set by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
As part of the final stage of the youth scientific and educational project ‘Enter IT 2.0’, a field final session was held, aimed at combining theoretical knowledge with practical experience, as well as developing the participants’ communicative competencies. The programme provided for the use of modern educational technologies, in particular VR public speaking training, aimed at improving the skills of reasoned presentation and effective presentation of IT projects. According to the organisers, the interactive learning format, based on a combination of lecture material, practical exercises, and individual consultations with experts, was chosen for comprehensive development of the subject area.