Opening of the Student Creativity Centre
The Student Creativity Centre is now officially open. The Centre is located in the building of former stables in Akademicka Street. The ceremony was combined with a summary of the Design Thinking Summer School.
On July 12, 2024, with the participation Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Prof. Maria Mrówczyńska, the authorities of the University, the city of Gliwice and students, the Student Creativity Centre was officially opened. It is a place where students of the Silesian University of Technology will be able to carry out their projects, take part in workshops, trainings, meetings and presentations.
This place is not only created for students, but it has also been created by them from the very beginning. Already at the design stage, students implementing PBL projects decided what technologies should be implemented in this building, what its functionality should be and what activities should be carried out here – said the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology Prof. Arkadiusz Mężyk during the opening ceremony.
Student Creativity Centre was created as part of the Excellence Initiative– Research University program, and the inspiration for its creation was “the d. school” at Stanford University, which is a place for creating modern projects and solutions for science and business. – We want the Student Creativity Centre at the Silesian University of Technology to be also an inspiring and integrating place, where student creativity will be stimulated – said the Rector-elect Prof. Marek Pawełczyk.
Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Prof. Maria Mrówczyńska, who was present at the opening ceremony, stressed that places like SCK (Student Creativity Centre) are indispensable because they give young people a chance to develop their talents and creativity.
“Students are the most important for universities, so they should be given the opportunity to pursue their passions and projects, whether by participating in science clubs or by creating places such as the Student Creativity Centre,” stressed the Deputy Minister.
- This place was extremely needed by students of our university - adds Dr Eng. Agata Guzik-Kopyto, acting Director of the Student Creativity Centre. Students visit us here every day, inviting their colleagues. They meet and learn together. Every day we offer them something new. We offer small meeting rooms where students will be able to work, print, and do small electronic works. A mini workshop will also be available, which we will equip with professional tools that they will be able to use. However, from the new academic year we will also invite students to numerous workshops and trainings. We will work in a team of experts, academic teachers, and supervisors of scientific circles – said Dr Eng. Agata Guzik-Kopyto.
The centre will also include a space for student science clubs, which until now functioned mainly in their faculties and there was no space for joint project activities.
- We have been waiting for such a place, mainly because it is a space created especially for us - said Aleksandra Kołodziej, a student of the third year of architecture and a member of the Student Council of the Student Creativity Centre. During the construction of the Centre, we were curious about what was going on here and we were glad that something was being created for students. At the Centre we can work, develop our passions, and bring projects to life. What is important, it is not only a place for work, but also for recreation and integration. We have a café, ping pong, comfortable poufs – adds the student.
The opening of the Student Creativity Centre was combined with a summary of the Design Thinking Summer School. During the ceremony, the effects of the weekly program were summarized, in which students of various faculties of the Silesian University of Technology and secondary school pupils explored the secrets of the design thinking methodology, working on innovative solutions for the city of Gliwice.
- The Design Thinking Summer School was organized on the initiative of the Rector of the Silesian University of Technology and the Student Creativity Centre. It is an event that supports the development of talents and the acquisition of new competences and skills. Students and pupils worked on creating solutions needed for the inhabitants of Gliwice. As a result of these works, four ideas were created for what could be interesting to do for the city and its inhabitants - said Beata Michalska-Dominiak from the “Klientocentryczni” company, leading the design thinking workshop.
The youth presented three applications and one project:
- A project for residents of Kociam Gliwice, which is to help residents of Gliwice find interesting places and good restaurants
- GlivINTO – an application that allows you to meet new people and find out where to spend your free time
- Spotter – an application that helps drivers find a free parking space
- Hasiok – an application that will help you locate places where garbage is stored in the city, how to segregate it and how to return unnecessary things to us.
The honorary patronage over the Design Thinking Summer School was taken by Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Budka, the Mayor of the City of Gliwice, who took part in the final presentations of the participants.
- “The problems that students diagnosed are real and actually concern us – the inhabitants of Gliwice and the solutions they proposed are worth implementing. Some are more difficult to implement, others are easier, but certainly all are very interesting”.
For students, participation in the Design Thinking Summer School was a chance to gain experience and learn about a new design method. – In such projects very good ideas are born – said Marcin Widuch, a computer science student at the Silesian University of Technology, who in his group worked on an application helping drivers find a free parking space. - We had people from faculties of architecture, management, or computer science. Each of us had a different view, so we could exchange knowledge and experiences – emphasizes the student.
- The ability to design together, to exchange thoughts, or simply to participate in brainstorming will definitely be useful for me in the future. For me, it is surprising how many there are ways to stimulate creativity – adds Magdalena Michalak, a student at the Faculty of Architecture who participated in the creation of a tool that helps residents find places where they can spend their free time in an interesting way.
The results of the students’ work were presented to the university and city authorities. As Mayor Kuczyńska announced at the beginning, an eco-project, i.e. the Hasiok application, can be implemented.
