Up to 38 technical students from Qatar University and Texas A&M University in Qatar participated in the “Running a Refinery” competition organised by Qatar Shell’s research facility at the Qatar Science and Technology Park, enabling students to manage a case study where they are required to salvage an underperforming refinery. The competition first took place in 2011 where up to 21 students participated. Students from universities in Qatar have been able to demonstrate robust business and operating skills in the exercise, which was organised to test their ability to deal with challenges, streamline complexities and achieve optimal performance in an operating unit.Youssif Saleh, general manager of Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre (QSRTC), said: “We always strive to give students the opportunity to witness how their studies will translate into real life work experience. These are real situations which project managers have to deal with on a daily basis, and I was very impressed by the technical capabilities and the passion that the students showed in dealing with them. We hope that after getting a glimpse of what their professional career might look like, that this exercise has helped raise the students’ interest in pursuing a technical career.”The students brainstormed in different teams to deal with an array of operational challenges in order to ultimately come up with optimal solutions and strategies to improve the performance of the refinery. The different teams were offered light-touch coaching and guidance by Shell engineers on the subtleties of managing different challenges and the correlations between business and operational decisions. They gained insight into cross-functional interfaces and the need for integration to arrive at the right solutions. Teams then presented their recommended strategies to Shell functional experts, who evaluated the proposed solutions and provided feedback on their recommendations. The winning teams were selected based on the validity and business robustness of the strategies, as well as the short and long-term implications of the solutions. In this event, the winning team won a fully paid trip to Kuala Lumpur from July 4-7 to attend the Shell eco-marathon. The Eco-marathon is a Shell-sponsored event where students from around the world compete to build and race with the most energy-efficient cars. Every year, Shell holds its eco-marathon events in Europe, Asia and the Americas in which around 4,000 high school and college students from around the world compete in teams to design, build and test energy-efficient vehicles. The winners are the vehicles which go the farthest on one litre of fuel. Student teams from Qatar University and Texas A&M at Qatar will be competing in this year’s eco-marathon competition, and the first place winners will be able to see their colleagues in action. Second place winners were awarded the new Apple iPad, whereas third place winners received gift vouchers to use at the Four Seasons hotel.