Hackathon Creaton 2026 at the Silesian University of Technology is behind us
Students and PhD students of the Silesian University of Technology took part in the second edition of the Hackathon Creaton 2026 competition, organized by the Silesian University of Technology in cooperation with the strategic partner ORLEN S.A. and the substantive partner ORLEN Południe S.A. The event was an opportunity to work together on innovative solutions responding to the challenges of modern industry, environmental protection, and energy transformation.
Great challenges, little experience, and a lot of ideas how to solve them – this is how one can briefly describe the Hackathon Creaton competition, which was held for the second time at the Silesian University of Technology. Students and doctoral students of various disciplines and fields of study entered the competition. This year, participants of a non-Polish nationality also took part, thanks to which the competition gained an internationalized character. A total of eight teams, each of which could choose a different challenge and a different engineering problem to solve from 14 topics prepared by Industrial Partners from different areas of their business.
For two days, under the guidance of mentors and experts from ORLEN S.A. and ORLEN Południe S.A., the participants developed innovative solutions that could solve real problems in the future.
Representatives of the companies not only helped in developing design concepts, but also answered questions about work, internships, and work placements in the industrial sector. Both the participants of the competition and all other students who visited the promotional stand of the Employer’s Brand Department, in addition to receiving valuable information or gadgets, could also try their hand, this time in physical activity, which was riding a specially constructed energy bike. Thanks to the muscle forces converted into electrical energy, they could drink freshly squeezed delicious orange juice.
– We are pleased to host representatives of ORLEN and ORLEN Południe S.A. It is a great honour for us to cooperate with the company and to benefit from the vast experience of the employees of this company who will cooperate with our students today – emphasized Prof. Dr Hab Eng. Anna Chrobok, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Education at the Silesian University of Technology.
As she noted, the Hackathon is of cyclical character and will continue in the coming years. - This is important because our students can obtain valuable advice on preparing projects directly from experts from ORLEN. - she added.
The subject matter of the competition covered a wide range of issues related to, among others, chemical technology, environmental protection, the use of biomass and the search for the raw materials of the future. The participants worked on solutions aimed at supporting, for example, the move away from fossil fuels and the development of modern industrial technologies. The projects were related to the broadly understood energy and climate transformation.
- ORLEN is a global chemical concern, which is why the challenges that students are solving today concern not only chemistry or chemical technology, but also environmental protection, the use of biomass or raw materials of the future, - said Prof. Anna Chrobok. – We teach students project work.
The final stage of the competition was to present its results in the form of a pitch-deck presentation to the competition Board. The projects were evaluated by a group of experts
composed of representatives of ORLEN S.A. and ORLEN Południe S.A. and the Silesian University of Technology. The Board composed of Dr Eng. Adam Marek (Student Activity Centre of the Silesian University of Technology) – Chairman, Leszek Sobota (CITT SUT), Ryszard Książek (ORLEN S.A.), Paulina Dzierzba-Kozioł (ORLEN Południe S.A.), selected the winners and awarded two additional distinctions.
The winners are:
First place
The team composed of: Zahra Batool and Atif Mehmood
Second place
The team composed of: Nataliia Nechyporenko and Nazrin Ismayilova
Third place
The team composed of: Patryk Podgórski, Marcin Maludy and Maja Piekorz
Distinctions:
The team composed of: Mateusz Rymoniak and Julia Pyka
The team composed of: Fatai Oluwashola Tajudeen and Oluwasesan Cornelius Akinbode
Prizes in kind, including tablets, smart watches, sweatshirts and other gadgets, funded both by the Silesian University of Technology and Industrial Partners, were presented by: Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Bożena Skołud, Vice-Rector for General Affairs of Silesian University of Technology, Dr Eng.. Adam Marek, Chairman of the Competition Board and Ryszard Książek - representative of ORLEN S.A. and Paulina Dzierzba-Kozioł from ORLEN Południe S.A.
Dr Hab. Eng. Arkadiusz Kamiński, Executive Director for the Environment at ORLEN talked about the importance of the initiative for industry.
- Today we came with the expectation that young students, supported by scientists and mentors from our company, will try to show us conceptual solutions supporting process and production activities carried out on the premises of our plants.
As the representative of ORLEN noted, the solutions proposed by the participants may concern both production processes, analytical tools or areas related to environmental protection, biodiversity, emission reduction, and climate transformation.
- The solutions proposed by the students have a chance to be implemented in real-world conditions on the premises of production plants, thanks to which they will be able to support our activity as multifunctional tools” – added Dr. Hab. Eng. Arkadiusz Kamiński.
The teams tried to prepare such projects in order to catch the eye of the jury. It was a chance to be remembered by the company and perhaps a chance to start cooperation and career path in the company.
- We were working on an energy consumption problem. We checked when it should be replaced so that it consumes the least amount of energy. In the work on our project, we cooperated with mentors – explained a student Adam Gola.
In turn, Kajetan Gudowski added that this is a valuable experience for students. During the Hackathon, they can use the knowledge gained during the whole period of study and test it in practice. - In addition, it is a chance to show yourself to a great employer - noted Tomasz Harężlak.
Hackathon Creaton 2026 was not only a competition, but also a space for exchanging experiences between academia and industry. The event once again showed that cooperation between universities and business can effectively support the development of innovative technologies and competences of future engineers and scientists.
The organizer and coordinator of the competition on behalf of the Silesian University of Technology was Dr Eng. Adam Marek, assistant professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Coordinator for Education in cooperation with the Industry of the Student Activity Centre of the Silesian University of Technology.
fot. Maciej Mutwil
