A Visit of SAP management to the Silesian University of Technology
Representatives of SAP, the world leader in enterprise software, visited the campus of the Silesian University of Technology. The guests had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with various models of cooperation between our University with business partners.
The SAP delegation was welcomed by Prof. Zbigniew Paszenda, Vice-Rector for Infrastructure and Investment at the Silesian University of Technology, and after a short conversation in (at) the rectorate, the guests visited the Student Creativity Centre. The participants of the visit from SAP included Patrick Grofig, Chief Operating Officer of SAP Labs Network and Julien Vayssiere, Head of Global Development Location Strategy at SAP Labs Network, a network of SAP’s largest R&D locations focused on developing and continuously improving key solutions of the company. Other participants of the delegation were: Balazs Nyers, Operations Director of SAP Labs in Budapest; Radosław Gołąbek, Managing Director of SAP Labs Poland in Gliwice; managers from SAP Labs Poland Gliwice – Maciej Ogrodnik and Artur Skorupa; Karolina Dzierżawska, Manager for SAP Recruitment for Central Europe and Aleksandra Wiktor, Operations Specialist at SAP Labs Poland.
– We are very glad that we can host the management of SAP within the walls of our university – said Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Dariusz Mrozek, Vice-Dean for Cooperation and Development of the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Computer Science, who presented some of the faculty laboratories to the guests. – On the one hand, we are able to show how we cooperate with business, on the other hand, what benefits for companies gain from cooperation with the academic community. Our students are very creative, they have grown up in completely different technologies than we used to and use them well, they can build their future on them - added the professor.
The guests visited the electronics laboratory of Aptiv, a manufacturer of parts for the automotive industry, Alstom’s laboratory of the leader of the railway industry, and the Virtual Flying Laboratory, where they tried their hand at piloting an aircraft on a simulator. Visiting the campus also included a visit to the Silesian University of Technology Library and the Industry 4.0 Technology Testing Centre, a demonstration production line built by APA Group.
“What I really enjoyed at the university was the collaboration between industry and academia, and especially the focus on real-world issues,” said Patrick Grofig, Chief Operating Officer of SAP Labs Network. “I have the impression that in the past there was a more pure academic theory, and now, especially in laboratories, you can see that collaboration is focused on bringing value to business and preparing students for real work that they will have to face in the future.”
The visit of SAP representatives at the Silesian University of Technology was held on the initiative of Dr Eng. Adrian Kapczynski from the Department of Mathematics Applications and Methods for Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics.
