INRTU Students Took Second Place at International Olympiad in Power System Relay Protection and Automation
A team of students from Irkutsk National Research Technical University (INRTU) has won second place in the International Internet Olympiad in Relay Protection and Automation of Electric Power Systems. The tournament was organized by Novosibirsk State Technical University (NSTU).
According to the organizing committee, nearly 70 students and schoolchildren from four countries took part in the competition. The Olympiad tasks covered key competencies required of a modern engineer, relating to the operating principles of electromechanical relays, the protection of transformers and power lines, the fundamentals of frequency automation, and more. The organizers believe the online tournament plays a significant role in developing professional personnel for the electric power industry.
INRTU was represented at the Olympiad by fourth-year students majoring in “Electric Power Stations” and “Power Supply”.
During the tournament, INRTU students secured second place in the team standings. In the individual competition, silver medals were awarded to Zakhar Gavrilov and Dmitry Petrov. The top three were rounded out by Sergey Dobrynin and Stepan Antipin.
Zakhar Gavrilov, a student at the School of Power Engineering, shared that the three-hour Olympiad combined a test with detailed problems. All tasks were based on knowledge gained from lectures in the discipline “Relay Protection of Electric Power Systems”.
One task required describing the causes and methods for eliminating contact bounce in relays. The contestants also performed calculations for overcurrent protection and instantaneous overcurrent cutoff – a type of relay protection in power networks that instantly disconnects a damaged section during a short circuit.
“The competition was interesting. It demonstrated our readiness for our chosen profession and future work. For instance, I am also studying at the En+ & INRTU Corporate Research Training Center. I am currently preparing to write my thesis on the reconstruction of relay protection for a 220-kilovolt power transmission line. Under an agreement with the energy holding company, I will begin working at their Engineering Service Center after graduation,”
said Zakhar Gavrilov.
Photos by Arseniy Chekmaryov and from Zakhar Gavrilov's personal archive
