Hackathon Creaton at the Silesian University of Technology
Nearly 50 participants - students, PhD students and employees of the Silesian University of Technology, took part in the scientific Hackathon Creaton. The winning group consisted of: Dr Eng. Piotr Latos, Eng. Mateusz Pilszek and Miłosz Kucharski. The event, which took place on May 27, was organized by the Silesian University of Technology, the strategic partner was ORLEN S.A. and the substantive partner was ORLEN Południe S.A.
It was the first Hackathon of this type at the Silesian University of Technology. Participants worked on innovative solutions for ORLEN’s needs in the field of chemistry, environmental protection and energy.
- “Our cooperation with ORLEN is getting closer. A few months ago we concluded a strategic agreement and since then many events have been held at our University in cooperation with this company” – said the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology, Prof. Marek Pawełczyk.
- “Today's Hackathon was an opportunity to present and use the potential of our students, PhD students and new researchers. By carrying out the competition tasks in groups, they were able to offer ORLEN attractive solutions to the given problems” – added the Rector.
For the competition participants, taking part in the Hackathon was also an opportunity to establish cooperation with a company operating on the domestic and foreign market. ORLEN will be a partner of the Silesian University of Technology until the end of the year, and the cooperation will include, among others, meetings with students in the field of internships, traineeships and job offers for graduates, as well as the possibility of cooperation with ORLEN experts in a mentoring project implemented with the Student Scientific Chemistry Club.
- “ORLEN is one of the largest companies in Europe. Its reputation and prestige make students eager to cooperate, seeing their future there” – noted Prof. Marek Pawełczyk.
The competition participants worked in groups of two or three, with seventeen teams competing in total.
- “These were mixed groups - students with PhD students or employees. Each of them was assigned a mentor who was an ORLEN expert” – said Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Education, Prof. Anna Chrobok
The topics of the tasks were defined by ORLEN employees.
- “These were research tasks that focused on developing technologies in the field of carbon dioxide management, i.e. issues from the so-called CCU area, as well as tasks related to the use and management of biomass” - said Kamil Niemyjski from ORLEN S.A.
The company hopes that the concepts developed during the event will be used in practice.
- “We care about the creativity of young people and about a new, fresher perspective on the tasks and areas that we deal with, and which are a big challenge for us” - he adds.
After a few hours, the groups presented the results of their work to the jury. 10 teams were distinguished, and the winner was the team consisting of: Dr. Eng. Piotr Latos, Eng. Mateusz Pilszek and Miłosz Kucharski.
- “Our project concerned the problem of managing lactic acid on the market. We have proposed a technology that will allow us to replace harmful solvents used in paints and other varnish products with less harmful and cheaper products” – explained Mateusz Pilszek, a student at the Faculty of Chemistry.
Students who took part in the Hackathon emphasize that it was a fascinating experience.
- “Such events allow us to use the knowledge we gained during our engineering or master's studies. We were given a real problem that we had to solve, and thus we could contribute to improving the technology at ORLEN” – adds the student.
The competition team mentors, and jury members believe that the participants demonstrated a wide range of skills.
- “The results presented by the groups participating in the Hackathon were at a very high level. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for the jury to choose the winning team, especially since some teams focused more on the application and usability aspects of the presented solutions, while others approached the solution from the perspective of the innovativeness of the presented solutions. However, each of them was extremely interesting” – said Justyna Więcławik from ORLEN Południe, a graduate of the Silesian University of Technology.
The hackathon was an opportunity for students and PhD students to establish contacts with ORLEN employees, who presented job offers at the career stand and talked about the possibilities of cooperation and gaining first professional experience as part of internship and apprenticeship programs at ORLEN S.A.
Hackathon Creaton took place at the Student Creativity Centre of the Silesian University of Technology.
