Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
A team of students from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University won the All-Russian Student Olympiad "Thermal Power Engineering-2025."
The event took place at Ivanovo State Power Engineering University named after V.I. Lenin and brought together over 70 participants from nine leading Russian universities. SPbPU was represented at the Olympiad by students from the Institute of Power Engineering's Higher School of Nuclear and Thermal Energy: Anna Artser, Elina Denezhkina, Alexander Kovalenko, Artem Petrov, and Nikita Semchenkov. The team was led by Alexey Trinchenko, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Nuclear and Thermal Energy.
Students completed challenging tasks in key areas of thermal power engineering: technical thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, boiler systems and steam generators, superchargers, and fluid dynamics. The competition was not only distinguished by its variety of problems but also demanded flexible thinking, a deep theoretical understanding, and the ability to adapt quickly to unexpected conditions.
Three days of intense intellectual competition bore fruit: the Polytechnic students took first place in the team competition, demonstrating a high level of preparation. Nikita Semchenkov and Anna Artser won prizes in the individual competition.
An Olympiad is always a test of your ability to think outside the box. We understood that there would be a variety of problems, so we tried to cover all the topics during our preparation. However, we still encountered problems we'd never encountered before. In such a situation, the key is not to fuss or worry, but to calmly recall all the relevant formulas and try to solve at least part of the problem to score the maximum points. It's important to start preparing early, and team discussions are the key to success. I believe these factors helped us achieve a solid result. And, of course, the most important thing is to believe in yourself and the team, not to worry, to give it your all, and to calmly await the results," shared Anna Artser.
Nikita Semchenkov noted that the main challenge was the need to quickly adapt to new formulations: "The hardest part of participating in the Olympiad wasn't even the problem solving itself, but the need to adapt very quickly. There are virtually no standard problems at the Olympiad: every year you'll encounter something new, sometimes even unexpected formulations or perspectives on classical processes. You often have to combine different calculation methods on the fly, recall related subjects, and adapt to non-standard conditions. You can't prepare for such an Olympiad using notes. But you can develop what really helps: a deep understanding of theory, teamwork, and the ability to keep a cool head. Often, the winner isn't the one who knows more, but the one who gets their bearings faster and doesn't get confused when faced with a non-standard problem."
The SPbPU team's victory at the 2025 Thermal Power Engineering Olympiad was a significant achievement and confirmation of the high quality of engineer training in thermal power engineering. This success underscores the importance of systematic educational efforts, teamwork, and an understanding of fundamental engineering disciplines, and strengthens the university's position among the leaders of Russian engineering.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.