Inauguration of the academic year 2024/2025 in the branch of the Silesian University of Technology in Rybnik
The ceremonial Gaudeamus Igitur sounded within the walls of the Silesian University of Technology branch in Rybnik, where seventeen people were accepted as students starting studies in logistics. The Centre in Rybnik has been educating students for over 60 years. This year as a Branch of the Silesian University of Technology, it wants to implement ambitious plans and expand its educational offer.
Logistics with specialization in the logistics of cities and regions is a field of studies conducted in Rybnik by the Faculty of Organization and Management of the Silesian University of Technology located in Zabrze. The opportunity to study in Rybnik is an attractive offer of education for young people from the Western Subregion, as well as a response to the needs of the companies located here.
– The field of logistics is an integral part of the education conducted for over 20 years at the Faculty of Organization and Management and enjoys great interest – said Dr Hab. Eng. Katarzyna Dohn, prof. SUT, the Vice-Dean for Student and Education Affairs at the Faculty of Organization and Management of the Silesian University of Technology. – We run it for the second year in Rybnik, we have very good conditions for studying here, great infrastructure facilities, we also have the support of the local government, because the specialists educated here will successfully cope with logistics processes in public administration.
The tradition of educating students in Rybnik dates back over 60 years, more than nine thousand engineers have obtained diplomas here. The University Unit in Rybnik, until recently - the Continuing Education Centre- has since September this year become a branch of the Silesian University of Technology. This is an ennoblement, but also a challenge - emphasized during the inauguration Dr Hab. Zygmunt Łukaszczyk, Prof. of Silesian University of Technology, director of the Branch of Silesian University of Technology in Rybnik.
“We are located in the centre of the Western Subregion, a powerful sub-region of over 600 thousand inhabitants, which includes large cities and smaller municipalities, we have signed a cooperation agreement facilitating our students to undertake internships in municipal enterprises and after obtaining a diploma - attractive employment. Rybnik is transforming toward modern technologies, transforming from Rybnik Coal District into Rybnik Hydrogen District (ROW 2.0), and to meet these challenges a well-educated staff is needed”– said director Lukaszczyk.
Therefore, together with the authorities of the Silesian University of Technology, the Rybnik Branch is preparing to start education in the field of renewable energy sources and hydrogen technologies.
– “In the past, students’ education in Rybnik was conducted in various areas, but mainly focused on the demand of the socio-economic environment and the same is now” – said Prof. Dr Hab. Eng. Zbigniew Paszenda, Vice-Rector for Infrastructure and Investment at the Silesian University of Technology, wishing students and hosts success in the new academic year. “We are entering this year with some hopes as well as with plans to expand education in renewable and hydrogen technologies. The laboratory base in this area will also be enriched.”
The initiative is supported by the authorities of Rybnik, hydrogen buses have been running in the city for a year, and there is also the second hydrogen fuel station in Poland.
“We see the future in this, with another 14 vehicles joining our bus fleet and we are glad that in cooperation with the Silesian University of Technology we are a precursor in the country when it comes to the use of hydrogen technologies,” said Arkadiusz Marcol, Vice President of Rybnik.
The city and the University support education in the area of modern technologies also at the secondary level of education.
– “This school year our pupils from the last, fifth grade have the opportunity to study on the specialization of hydrogen technologies” – said Piotr Tokarz, director of the Group of Technical Schools in Rybnik. – “The classes will be conducted by school employees and scientists of the Silesian University of Technology; it is a response to the needs of companies that operate hydrogen communication in our city and need professionals” – added the director of the school.
Classes with pupils of the Automotive Mechanic profile will be conducted on the basis of a modern method of education: Project Based Learning. Also planned are classes related to drone technologies in the Mechanical and Electrical School Complex named after T. Kosciuszko.
– “Our school already cooperates with several faculties of the Silesian University of Technology, and currently, in cooperation with the university, we are introducing education in the field of drone technologies, which are the future of transport” – said Marek Holona, director of the Mechanical and Electrical School Complex named after T. Kosciuszko in Rybnik. “Drones are of great interest to young people, and our role is to help them develop their passions,” he added.
The new academic year in the branch of the Silesian University of Technology in Rybnik is also a lot of investments within the project of the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Hydrogen Technologies. The Centre will include hydrogen technology laboratories as well as photovoltaic panel diagnostics and a laboratory enabling energy analysis of the building.
