Professor Andrzej Ajdukiewicz passed away

It is with deep regret that we inform you that on 17th of December, 2021 prof. Andrzej Ajdukiewicz passed away.

He was born on May 9, 1939 in Chorzów. He graduated from the Faculty of Industrial and General Construction of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice in 1961. He started his scientific and didactic activity in 1961 at the Silesian University of Technology, in the Department of Reinforced Concrete Construction headed by Prof. Stefan Kaufman. In 1968 he defended his doctoral dissertation at his alma mater. He worked successively as an assistant, senior assistant, assistant professor; from 1989 he was an associate professor, and from 1998 he was a full professor at the Silesian University of Technology. He was the Vice-Dean (1976-77) and Dean (1977-79) of the Civil Engineering Faculty of the Silesian University of Technology, Head of the Prestressed Concrete Structures Department (1974-82) and the Reinforced Concrete Structures Department (1988-94) at the Institute of Building Structures, in 1994-2009 he was the Head of The Department of Structural Engineering at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology.

In the years 1982-85 he worked abroad as a Visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Ife in Nigeria, and in the period 1991-96 he was the Head of the Concrete Construction Department and a full professor at the Lodz University of Technology.

Prof. dr inż. Andrzej AJDUKIEWICZ was an undisputed expert and authority in the field of concrete and prestressed structures.

In Poland, prof. dr inż. Andrzej AJDUKIEWICZ was an active member, among others, of the following organizations:

- member of the Committee for Civil and Water Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1993),

- chairman of the Science Committee of the Polish Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians (1993),

- member of the Committee for Applied Research of the State Committee for Scientific Research in the terms of 1994-1997 and 1997-2000,

- member of the Central Commission for Scientific Titles and Degrees (2000-2003),

- member of Scientific Councils, including the Building Research Institute (1997-2000, 2000-03),

- member of the Concrete Structures Section of the The Committee on Civil Engineering and Hydroengineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences (KILiW PAN) since 1987 and chairman of this Section (2003-2009),

- member of the Surface Protection Commission at the State Mining Authority (1994-2009),

- member of the Technical Committee of Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN) No. 213 "Concrete and composite structures" (1994),

- member of scientific committees of over 50 conferences in Poland.

Abroad, prof. dr inż. Andrzej AJDUKIEWICZ worked as:

- expert of the European Commission in Brussels (1992, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002) invited to evaluate projects in subsequent research programs,

- chairman of the Polish National Group fib - the International Federation of Concrete Structures (1998-2016) and member of the Working Commission 3 in fib,

- member of the International Association of Bridges and Engineering Structures (IABSE) and member of the 3 .IABSE Commission (1999-2008),

- co-organizer of the IABSE Berlin '98 Symposium, 5th Symposium of Construction PhD Students '2004 in Delft, 6th Symposium of Construction PhD Students' 2006 in Zurich, 7th Symposium of Construction PhD Students '2008 in Stuttgart and the 8th Symposium of PhD Students in Lyngvej (Denmark)' 2010,

- member of scientific or advisory committees of over 20 conferences, incl. in Norway, USA, Germany, Czech Republic, Croatia, Australia, Mexico, Great Britain, Sweden, Hungary and the fib Congress in Washington, 2010,

- member of the American Concrete Institute-ACI (since 1999).

He has published as an author or co-author a total of over 400 works - monographs, academic textbooks and scripts, domestic and foreign articles, published papers at national and international conferences. Including two books of his co-authorship have been published abroad, and he has also published articles in the USA - Journal of American Concrete Institute, in Switzerland - Structural Engineering International, in Great Britain - Cement & Concrete Composites, in Germany - Beton & Stahlbetonbau, in Japan - Advanced Concrete Technology. He delivered over 70 papers abroad at congresses and conferences on 5 continents.

He developed on a national and international scale scientific and research topics in the field of:

- problems of punching in the R.C. slabs, in which was a precursor in Poland,

- large-span reinforced concrete and prestressed concreto prefabricated skeletons,

- R.C. slab-column and waffle slab-column structures,

- selected problems of prestressed concrete and composite structures,

- tests and applications of high-performance concretes,

- increasing the durability of reinforced concrete structures by means of concrete surface modification,

- tests on concrete recycling and the use of recycled concreto aggregates in structures.

He managed 5 completed research projects of the State Committee for Scientific Research and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. He was an authorized designer (from 1971) and a state construction appraiser. He designed and supervised the implementation of several innovative facilities, including large department stores.

He was awarded, among others, the Golden Cross of Merit (1979), the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1990), and the Medal of the National Education Commission (2001). He received 7 awards of the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Education and Sport) for scientific works and 6 awards of the Minister of Construction and PMB (Minister of Infrastructure). He was an honorary member of Polish Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians (PZITB).

In 2011, prof. dr inż. Andrzej AJDUKIEWICZ has been awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the Lodz University of Technology.