Plenary Meeting No. 1 of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
On March 18, 2024, the 1st Plenary Meeting of the Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the 2023-2027 term was held in Krakow. 33 of the 37 elected members of the Committee participated at the meeting.
At the beginning, the Rector of AGH, Professor Jerzy Lis welcomed the Committee Members, and then the Meeting was opened by the Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor Natalia Sobczak, corresponding member PAS, who presented the nominations for the 2023-2027 term to the newly elected Committee Members, as well as to the newly elected Editor-in-Chief of the Archives of Metallurgy and Materials journal, Professor Maciej Szczerba.
The next point of the meeting was election of the Committee Chairman. The only person nominated for this position was Professor Paweł Zięba. As a result of a secret voting (all the voices “for” without “against” and “sustained”) the Committee Members elected Professor Zięba as the Chairman of the Committee for Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the 2023-2027 term.
The newly elected Chairman proposed candidates for the Vice-Chairmen of the Committee for the following persons: Professor Jerzy Sobczak and Professor Jarosław Mizera, as well as the candidate for the Secretary of the Committee for Professor Jerzy Łabaj. As a result of a secret voting (all the voices “for” without “against” and “sustained”), the Committee Members elected mentioned above persons.
Then, in a short speech, the Chairman presented the state of the Materials Engineering discipline in terms of national centers representing Materials Engineering, as well as proposed program for the future.
The next point was the proposal to maintain the current internal structure of the Committee with the possibility of representing various scientific groups and units working in the discipline. The proposal was accepted by the Committee and open voting procedure was performed. As a result, the following sections were approved:
- Metallurgical Section,
- Technological Processes Section,
- Metallic Materials Section.
- Nonmetallic Materials Section,
- Section of Research Structure Characterization and Properties of Materials
The next voting on the agenda concerned the election of Section Chairmen. Professor Paweł Zięba proposed the following persons to lead the Sections:
- Professor Mirosław Karbowniczek (Metallurgical Section)
- Professor Zbigniew Gronostajski (Technological Processes Section),
- Professor Tadeusz Kulik (Metallic Materials Section),
- Professor Andrzej Błędzki (Nonmetallic Materials Section),
- Professor Jerzy Morgiel (Section of Research, Structure Characterization and Material Properties)
As a result of a secret voting, every candidate received full support, without any voices “against” or “sustained”.
The Committee Chairman, in accordance with the Regulations on the procedure for selecting members and bodies of scientific committees § 4, recommended Professor Dariusz Kuc from the Silesian University of Technology as a new candidate to be Committee Member. As a result of the voting, Professor Dariusz Kuc received 33 voices “for” and became a Member of the Committee.
The last point of the Meeting was to discuss the matters brought by the Committee Members. The information about the latest results of the Preludium and Opus calls in National Science Centre was presented. The special attention was paid to discipline and scientific career of granted researchers. Especially, for Opus there were doubts that discipline represented by majority of them was not Materials Engineering. This issue will be the subject of the planned consultations organized by the Chairman of the NCN Council, prof. Ph.D. Robert Hasterok, regarding the ST11 panel at the National Science Center, to which the representatives of the Members of the Committee for Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences were invited.
Archiwum AGH, fot. Zbigniew Sulima
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18th International Conference on Electron Microscopy, June 9-12, 2024, Zakopane
The Committee of Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences took patronage over the organization and course of a conference dedicated to electron microscopy, as one of the basic cognitive tools for the microstructure, phase consitution and chemical composition of metallic, ceramic, biological materials and polymers.
The conference is organized by the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish Microscopy Society and the COTI Conference company.
Details about the conference: https://em2024.pl/
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SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE MATERIALS ENGINEERING AND METALLURGY COMMITTEE OF THE POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES FOR THE YEARS 2020-2023
The year 2020 was an exceptional year for all members of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. This was due to the fact that for the first time in the history of the IVth Division of Technical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, two scientific committees were merged: the Materials Science Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
It coincided with the elections according to the new formula, according to which the active and passive law was extended to all persons who obtained habilitation or holding the title of professor. Thus, it is no longer the privilege of people holding the title of professor. Moreover, the new voting formula significantly limited the possibility of selecting a candidate representing one research unit to 5 people.
In this situation, the choice of a 30-persons representation of materials engineering and metallurgy in its present shape was considered as a success and a sign that we were able to cooperate harmoniously in the new reality.
We also considered it a success to conduct the first Plenary Meeting “face to face”, almost at the last minute. In the Meeting Room of the AGH UST Senate, we selected the Committee's authorities and outlined our plans for the near future.
Unfortunately, the future turned out to be quite a complicated matter due to events commonly known as the "coronavirus pandemic". It cut us off from all direct contacts resulting from participation at various symposia, workshops, conferences and meetings. In this situation, during two so-called the "remote" or “online” Plenary Meetings of the Committee, matters relating to the division into sections, the formulation of section action plans and the election of additional persons as Committee members should be regarded as next success.
From the very beginning, there has been an information channel of the Committee's website, which is updated on a regular basis. We also managed to attract a large part of the Committee's members to the Electron Microscopy Conference, organized by the Silesian University of Technology. Providing the opportunity through "Zoom" to listen to papers, take part in discussions without any additional financial expenses, is a new initiative that may be more widely adopted in the current and protracted critical situation related to the pandemic.
However, the status of section members remained unsolved, and we expected the position of the vice-president of the Polish Academy of Sciences in this matter. This was important because a successful decision in this regard was crucial for the particular sections to start operating in the full range of tasks set out in their plans.
The ongoing state of the Covid-19 pandemic caused the 4th Plenary Meeting of the Committee to be held “on line”. The topic that dominated was the issue of support for the application for the creation of a new panel at the National Science Center dedicated to Materials Engineering. All members of the Committee unanimously supported this idea, undertaken jointly with the Polish Society of Materials Science. Almost all the chairmen of the Material Engineering Discipline Councils who were present at the meeting also expressed their support. On the basis of the letter addressed to the National Science Center, the Committee also prepared an expertise entitled Map of Materials Engineering in Poland 2021.
The year 2021 also brought the launching a new initiative called the Materials Engineering Forum - as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and information in the field of materials engineering. By the end of 2021, 4 thematic meetings were held, during which 6 lectures by outstanding specialists from various areas of materials science were presented. Regardless of the Forum, particular sections of the Committee were active, co-organizing or hosting various workshops and conferences.
The moment of breath that we received from the virus in the early autumn period was used to perform the XVII Reporting Conference of the Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences METALURGIA 2020, which crowned the long tradition of organizing the recognized and reputable multigenerational Polish-language Reporting Conferences of the former Committee of Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The conference gathered 86 participants, specialists in the field of metallurgy and contemporary materials engineering from all over the country, which we considered a great success in the current situation.
The conference was combined with the V Plenary Meeting of the Committee, which was held in a hybrid mode; however, we were happy with the personal presence of most of the Committee members in Bukowina Tatrzańska. The meeting was an opportunity to preliminary summing up all activities taking place in 2021. Moreover, the members of the Committee were acquainted with the effects of the initiative undertaken jointly with the Polish Society for Materials Science, concerning the continuation of the strategic program at the National Center for Research and Development on materials engineering.
The third year of the Committee's activity in the 2020-2023 term was a year of gradual return to reality after the COVID pandemic. This was reflected in the organization of the 6th Plenary Meeting of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wieluń. The meeting was preceded by a visit to Silum Sp. z o.o., which is one of the leading companies in the foundry industry. At that time, none of us could have imagined that already 8 months later, the Main Organizer of this meeting, a member of our Committee, mgr inż. Maciej Asłanowicz will pass away. We can only assure that we will not forget Maciej, remembering how much valuable he contributed to our committee.
The year 2022 brought our community a success that has never happened in the past. Our efforts undertaken jointly with the Polish Society of Materials Science, supported by the Councils of Materials Engineering Disciplines and coordinated by the Rector of AGH, Professor Jerzy Lis, led to the launching a new panel ST 11-Materials Engineering at the National Science Center. It's up to us how we use this fact.
We were also waiting with a great concern for the results of the evaluation of scientific units, especially in the context of the threats posed by some scientists in the field of exact and natural sciences, who at the end of 2021 declared a change to the field of engineering and technical sciences with the leading discipline of materials engineering, despite the fact that that their scientific achievements were far away from the standards accepted in this discipline. This issue was addressed during the 7th Plenary Meeting of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Meeting at the request of the chairman of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee, Prof. Paweł Zięba to the President of PTM Prof. Dariusz Kata, was held during the XXVI Seminar of the Polish Society of Materials Science. During this event, Prof. P. Zięba delivered a lecture entitled "Discipline of Materials Engineering - landscape after the battle", followed by a panel discussion entitled "Where is Material Engineering in Poland going?". The voices in the discussion concerned mainly the need to specify the definition of "materials engineering" and the method of declaration of employees representing various units for this discipline. It was unequivocally confirmed that the currently applied rules for the evaluation of scientific units required changes in order to eliminate imperfections that depreciate the achievements of units that have been operating in research field related to materials engineering and staff training in this area for many years.
The Committee disapproved of the practices of some scientific entities which, taking advantage of the imperfection of the evaluation system of scientific units, "transferred" researchers and their achievements between scientific fields. In this way, materials engineering "enriched" with "specialists" in the field of materials engineering, who gained all their scientific achievements in the field of chemical or physical sciences, and not in the field of engineering and technical sciences. Recommendations have been suggested to avoid such situations in the future.
The fourth year of the Committee's activity in the 2020-2023 term brought several events important for all of us working in the field of materials engineering. The first of them was undoubtedly the largest conference showing the current state and development prospects of the Discipline. The XXIII Conference on Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science Advanced Materials and Technologies AMT'2023 gathered approximately 250 participants, which was a great success of the organizers (Silesian University of Technology) and the entire community. The significant contribution of the Committee members should also be acknowledged. In addition, the three largest global conferences organized under the patronage of the committee, namely: the 17th European Workshop on Modern Solutions and Applications in Microbeam Analysis and the joint 17th Conference on Rapidly Quenching and Metastable Materials (RQ 17), the 27th International Symposium on topic of Metastable, Amorphous and Nanostructured Materials (ISMANAM 27) and 17th European Workshop on Modern Developments and Applications in Microbeam Analysis ended with similar success.
During the Plenary Meeting, the issue of evaluation of scientific units and all the weaknesses and even pathologies related to them were again discussed. In this context, the community's determination to implement changes and ordering the legal regulations related to the parametric assessment of scientific units was expressed. Issues related to elections to the Council for Scientific Excellence and the Committee were also discussed.
The elections to the Council for Scientific Excellence were a great success. The committee's recommendation given to prof. prof. M. Lewandowska, M. Sozańska and D. Kata had a spectacular impact on the voting results, which proves the great integration of our community.
The last comment holds also true for the elections to the Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The change in the regulations forced the establishment of a specific parity of seats for individual representatives for particular scientific units as well as recommendation of candidates having the best recognition of the community. The newly elected members of the Committee, who will formally start their work on March 19, 2024, are from 14 most important scientific units from all over the country.
Presidium of the Committee on Materials Science and Metallurgy
Polish Academy of Sciences
Kraków-Warsaw-Katowice 2024
Award of the Minister of Science
Prof. Jerzy Józef Sobczak, DHC, from the Faculty of Foundry Engineering at the AGH University of Krakow, was awarded by the Minister of Science in the category of "Significant Achievements in the Field of Scientific Activity" during the Polish Science Day Gala held on February 18, 2024 in the auditorium of the Warsaw University of Technology. The award was given for the fact that in only two years (2021-2022) he has carried out unique research on a national and global scale in a pioneering experimental direction in the field of technical sciences dedicated to the development of new products and processes in the field of high-temperature liquid metal engineering, as defined by the Author.
As a result of this research, for the first time completely new knowledge has been acquired, which significantly expands the stock of knowledge and qualifications that can be applied in laboratory and industrial practice, especially in the field of diametrically new material and construction solutions, especially for the energy, medical, automotive and aerospace industries. This is significant, emblematic and distinctive for the status of the award-winning University - AGH University of Krakow - as an Initiative of Excellence-Research University.
Prof. Jerzy J. Sobczak developed his own original comprehensive concept for the organization of a Liquid Metal Engineering Laboratory (LMELab), individually acquired the necessary funds from external sources, conducted an unprecedented promotional campaign, which resulted in the launch of a research station equipped with a unique, proprietary and patented mobile device complex SMART (Special Device for Measurements in Support of Advanced Research at High Temperature), awarded the Poznan International Fair ITM Industry Europe 2021 Gold Medal, Modernlog 2021 in the "Science for the Economy" category.
LMELab was established as a result of a consortium agreement between the AGH University of Krakow and the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
https://home.agh.edu.pl/~sobczak/
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Summary of the activities of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2023
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,
The fourth year of the Committee's activity in the 2020-2023 term brought several events important for all of us working in the field of materials engineering. The first of them was undoubtedly the largest conference showing the current state and development prospects of the Discipline. The XXIII Conference on Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science Advanced Materials and Technologies AMT'2023 gathered approximately 250 participants, which was a great success of the organizers (Silesian University of Technology) and the entire community. The significant contribution of the Committee members should also be acknowledged. In addition, the two largest global conferences organized under the patronage of the committee, namely: the 17th European Workshop on Modern Solutions and Applications in Microbeam Analysis and the joint 17th Conference on Rapidly Quenching and Metastable Materials (RQ 17) and the 27th International Symposium on topic of Metastable, Amorphous and Nanostructured Materials (ISMANAM 27) ended with similar success.
During the Plenary Meeting, the issue of evaluation of scientific units and all the weaknesses and even pathologies related to them were again discussed. In this context, the community's determination to implement changes and ordering the legal regulations related to the parametric assessment of scientific units was expressed. Issues related to elections to the Council for Scientific Excellence and the Committee were also discussed.
The elections to the Council for Scientific Excellence were a great success. The committee's recommendation given to prof. prof. M. Lewandowska, M. Sozańska and D. Kata had a spectacular impact on the voting results, which proves the great integration of our community.
The last comment holds also true for the elections to the Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The change in the regulations forced the establishment of a specific parity of seats for individual units for particular scientific units as well as recommendation of candidates having the best recognition of the community. The newly elected members of the Committee, who will formally start their work on March 19, 2024, are from 14 most important scientific units from all over the country.
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Materials Engineering Forum
Invitation to the seminar of the Material Engineering Forum, during which lectures will be given by prof. Hubert Gojzewski and dr Adam Piasecki
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Newly elected members of the Committee on Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the 2024-2027 term
| Andrzej Błędzki Anna Boczkowska Krzysztof Czupryński Halina Garbacz Maria Gazda Tomasz Goryczka Marcin Górny Adam Grajcar Zbigniew Gronostajski Jerzy Jedliński |
Łukasz Kaczmarek Mirosław Karbowniczek Dariusz Kata Aleksandra Kolano-Burian Agnieszka Kopia Tadeusz Kulik Jerzy Łabaj Łukasz Madej Jarosław Mizera Jerzy Morgiel |
Grzegorz Moskal |
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Inauguration of the Academic Year 2023-2024 at the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology
On October 2, 2023, the inauguration of the Academic Year 2023-2024 took place at the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering of the Warsaw University of Technology. The event was attended by the Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Paweł Zięba, Vice-President Prof. Jerzy Sobczak, Committee members: Prof. K. Czupryński, Prof. D. Kata, Prof. T. Knych, Prof. M. Sozańska, Prof. J. Wojewoda-Budka and Prof. A. Zieliński
Additionally, the participants were the members of the Committee representing the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering: Prof. J. Mizera (Vice-Chairman of the Committee), Prof. A. Boczkowska (Dean of the Faculty), Prof. H. Garbacz, Prof. M. Lewandowska, Prof. T. Kulik and Prof. Z. Pakieła.
The Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology has a long tradition of education in the field of Materials Science and Engineering. The roots date back to the 1973/74 academic year, when the first group of 29 students began their adventure with Materials Science at the Institute of Materials Science (at the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering), which in 1975 was merged with the Department of Materials Science (Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering) and transformed to the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering with faculty rights. The first Director of the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering with faculty rights was Professor Stefan Wojciechowski. The first graduate in March 1978 became M.Sc. Jan Kulikowski. Since 1991, the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering of Warsaw University of Technology was established.
Currently, the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering of Warsaw University of Technology has over 140 employees, divided in 4 Divisions with a total number of 28 research teams, and over 90 projects last year financed by NCBiR, NCN, FNP, European Union and others. The Faculty has over 250 students in total at the 1st and 2nd level of studies, and over 60 doctoral students in total in doctoral studies and at the Doctoral School.
The Faculty possesses modern research infrastructure. In April 2023, the Electron Microscopy Laboratory, equipped with the most modern transmission electron microscope in Poland, Spectra 200 (S)TEM from Thermo Fisher Scientific, was officially opened with the participation of the Rector of Warsaw University of Technology. The microscope was financed by the Regional Operational Program of the Masovian Voivodeship as part of the project "Masovian materials and sensors technology platform, and their application in energy conversion and storage, electromobility, aviation and autonomous systems”.
Faculty employees conduct research at the top world level. In 2022, six of them were included in the list of World's TOP 2% Scientists 2021 (ranking prepared by Stanford University in cooperation with Elsevier). The scientists awarded for their entire career were:
• professor Tadeusz Kulik (Materials),
• professor Małgorzata Lewandowska (Materials),
• professor Dariusz Oleszak (Materials),
• professor Tadeusz Wierzchoń (Materials).
The scientists awarded by achievements in 2021 were:
• professor Agnieszka Jastrzębska (Materials),
• professor Wojciech Święszkowski (Biomedical Engineering).
Faculty employees win prestigious awards. In 2023, the technology developed by WUT in cooperation with the ADJ Nanotechnology spin-off company, which president is professor Agnieszka Jastrzębska, won the 33rd edition of the “Teraz Polska” competition in the “innovation” category. Professor Anna Boczkowska received the "Silver Engineer 2022" statuette in the science category in the 29th edition of the plebiscite organized by the editorial office of "Przegląd Techniczny" and the Federation of Scientific and Technical Associations NOT.
Faculty employees declare to conduct research in the Materials Science and Engineering Discipline in 100%. In the QS ranking by Subject "Materials Sciences", Materials Science and Engineering practiced at the Warsaw University of Technology is classified as the best among all Materials Science and Engineering in Poland.
Moreover, the faculty educates students the best in Poland. In the ranking of Engineering Studies made by the “Perspektywy” magazine in 2023, the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering of Warsaw University of Technology was classified once again in the first place as offers the best education in Materials Science and Engineering in Poland. In eleven editions of this competition the Faculty was nine times classified in the 1st place and only twice in the 2nd place.
The Materials Science and Engineering at the Faculty is accredited by the Accreditation Commission of Technical Universities (KAUT) and possess the certificate of educational excellence of the Polish Accreditation Commission in the category: Always for the student - excellence in supporting student development. Students of the Faculty win prestigious awards and scholarships, including a scholarship from the Minister of Education and Science.
The Warsaw University of Technology has the status of a research university conducting research at the highest world level. As part of the IDUB WUT program, the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering implements research and teaching grants, as well as the project "Pilot installation for energy generation and storage based on effective and durable photovoltaic and battery technologies" being a part of the WUT strategic program STRATEG PW.
The Faculty received funding from the Ministry of Education and Science for the project "Era of materials - popularization of materials engineering among high school students" as part of the Social Responsibility of Science program.
The Faculty put particular attention on internationalization by introducing English-language specializations into the second level of education program, recruiting foreigners to the Doctoral School, as well as short- and long-term internships in the best research centers abroad.
The Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering is focused on cooperation with the industry. The Faculty conducts applied PhD studies. The vast majority of research projects are carried out in cooperation with the industrial partners, as well as many services are performed for the industry needs.
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8th Plenary Meeting of the Materials Science and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
On June 16, 2023, the 8th Plenary Meeting of the Materials Science and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences was held in Wisła. The meeting was attended by 19 members of the Committee.
Before starting the agenda, prof. dr hab. Eng. Paweł Zięba asked the Rector of AGH, prof. dr hab. Eng. Jerzy Lis and prof. Ehrenfried Zschech, representing the DeepXscan Company, for the signing of the agreement on the establishment of the Nanotomography Center, a joint initiative of AGH and DeepXscan.
Then the Chairman presented information on the activities of the Committee and plans for the near future. The main topic discussed was the issue of evaluation of scientific units and the applicable criteria for this process, as well as issues related to the future term the Council of Excellence in Science and the Committee of Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
In the next point of the Meeting, the Chairmen of the particular sections of the Committee presented information on the activities and plans for 2023. The activity of the Metallurgical Section was presented by prof. Jerzy Łabaj, related to the effects of cooperation with the Metallurgical and Foundry Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and plans for joint seminars this year. He also provided information that the
Chairman of the Metallurgical Section, prof. M. Karbowniczek, this year received the award of the Minister of Education and Science.
Information on the activities of the Technological Processes Section was presented by the Chairman, prof. dr hab. Eng. Zbigniew Gronostajski, who reported the plans of the meetings and the adopted topics of the presentations, including plastic working and foundry, as well as issues related to them. Then, the Chairman drew attention to the planned activities in the development of review articles, in which people from various research centers are involved, and also presented the rules for submitting and awarding the works of young scientists.
The report on the activities of the Metal Materials Section was presented by prof. Maria Sozańska. The work plan for 2023 was presented together with a list of seminars and conferences in which the Section plans to actively participate.
Report for the Section of Non-metallic Materials, the report was presented by prof. Anna Boczkowska. The Section plans to continue the organization of, among others, international conferences while the Section meeting took already place and information can be found in the journal Wiadomości chemiczne
The report on the activity of the Section of Research, Characteristics of the Structure and Properties of Materials was presented by prof. Jerzy Morgiel. Plans for the organization of international conferences were presented, and the schedule of Section meetings in 2023.
Then Prof. Dariusz Kata presented a lecture entitled: New achievements in the field of ceramic materials.
In the next point on the agenda of the meeting, the Chairman, prof. Paweł Zięba informed that at the end of this year he resigns from the function of Editor of the journal "Archives of Metallurgy and Materials" and proposes dr hab. Maciej Szczerba, prof. IMiM in his place. This proposal approved by all the members of KIMiM PAN who were present during meeting.
In the next part, the discussion on the evaluation of scientific units was continued, in which prof. J. Lis, prof. N. Sobczak, prof. P. Zięba, prof. D. Kata. Everyone agreed that the current assessment criteria require discussion and it is necessary to convince of the Minister of Education and Science regarding the importance of the discipline of materials engineering.
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Materials Engineering Forum
Invitation to the seminar of the Material Engineering Forum, during which lectures will be given by prof. Aleksandra Mielewczyk-Gryń and prof. Ragnar Strandbakke
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Awards of the Minister of Education and Science
On February 19, 2023, during the gala on the occasion of the Polish Science Day, the Minister of Education and Science presented awards to outstanding scientists representing various fields of science. Among the winners was a member of our Committee, Prof. Mirosław Karbowniczek, who was honored with the prize for the monograph for the monograph entitled Electric Arc Furnace Steelmaking in the category of significant achievements in the field of scientific activity.
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Summary of the activities of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2022.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues,
The third year of the Committee's activity in the 2020-2023 term was a year of gradual return to reality after the COVID pandemic. This was reflected in the organization of the 6th Plenary Meeting of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wieluń. The meeting was preceded by a visit to Silum Sp. z o.o., which is one of the leading companies in the foundry industry. At that time, none of us could have imagined that already 8 months later, the Main Organizer of this meeting, a member of our Committee, mgr inż. Maciej Asłanowicz will pass away. We can only assure that we will not forget Maciej, remembering how much valuable he contributed to our committee.
The year 2022 brought our community a success that has never happened in the past. Our efforts undertaken jointly with the Polish Society of Materials Science, supported by the Councils of Materials Engineering Disciplines and coordinated by the Rector of AGH, Professor Jerzy Lis, led to the launching a new panel ST 11-Materials Engineering at the National Science Center. Now it's up to us how we use this fact.
We were also waiting with a great concern for the results of the evaluation of scientific units, especially in the context of the threats posed by some scientists in the field of exact and natural sciences, who at the end of 2021 declared a change to the field of engineering and technical sciences with the leading discipline of materials engineering, despite the fact that that their scientific achievements were far away from the standards accepted in this discipline. This issue was addressed during the 7th Plenary Meeting of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Meeting at the request of the chairman of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee, Prof. Paweł Zięba to the President of PTM Prof. Dariusz Kata, was held during the XXVI Seminar of the Polish Society of Materials Science.
During this event, Prof. P. Zięba delivered a lecture entitled "Discipline of Materials Engineering - landscape after the battle", followed by a panel discussion entitled "Where is Material Engineering in Poland going?". It was open to both the persons participating in the PTM Seminar and the members of the Committee. The voices in the discussion concerned mainly the need to specify the definition of "materials engineering" and the method of declaration of employees representing various units for this discipline. It was unequivocally confirmed that the currently applied rules for the evaluation of scientific units require changes in order to eliminate imperfections that depreciate the achievements of units that have been operating in research field related to materials engineering and staff training in this area for many years.
The Committee disapproved of the practices of some scientific entities which, taking advantage of the imperfection of the evaluation system of scientific units, "transferred" researchers and their achievements between scientific fields. In this way, materials engineering "enriched" with "specialists" in the field of materials engineering, who gained all their scientific achievements in the field of chemical or physical sciences, and not in the field of engineering and technical sciences. Recommendations have been suggested to avoid such situations in the future.
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Professor Natalia Sobczak elected Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Dear Colleagues,
During the 148th Session of the General Assembly of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a member of our Committee, Prof. dr hab. Eng. Natalia Sobczak, Corresponding member of PAS was elected by the Academics present at the Session as the Vice-President of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The Professor will start this important position on January 1, 2023.
It is an extremely prestigious distinction for the Committee of Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, as well as the entire scientific community related to Materials Engineering.
Professor, in addition to the highest appreciation, we wish you determination and passion in solving complex problems of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
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18th Discussion Meeting on Thermodynamics of Alloys – TOFA 2022
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10th International Conference High Temperature Capillarity (HTC2022)
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Third International Conference of Metals, Ceramics and Composites
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The list of the most frequently cited scientists in the world in 2022
September 2022 data-update for "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators" contains the list contains 2% top-cited scientists that provides standardized information on citations, h-index, co-authorship adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions and a composite indicator (c-score).
We are pleased to inform you that that there are the following members of the Committee on the list:
1. Prof. Andrzej Błędzki
2. Prof. Władysław Gąsior
3. Prof. Adam Grajcar
4. Prof. Zbigniew Gronostajski
5. Prof. Leszek Jaroszewicz
6. Prof. Tadeusz Kulik
7. Prof. Małgorzata Lewandowska
8. Dr hab. inż. Wojciech Maziarz, prof. Instytutu
9. Prof. Natalia Sobczak
10. Prof. Tadeusz Wierzchoń
11. Prof. Paweł Zięba
Congratulations
Committee Presidium
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Plenary Meeting No. 7 of the Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences
On October 17, 2022, the 7th Plenary Meeting of the Committee for Materials Science and Metallurgy (KiMIM) of the Polish Academy of Sciences took place in Częstochowa. The meeting at the request of the chairman of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee, Prof. Paweł Zięba addressed to the President of the Polish Society for Materials (PTM), Prof. Dariusz Katy, took place during the 26th Seminar of the Polish Society for Materials, under the joint patronage of PTM and KIMiM. 21 members of the Committee participated in the “face to face” meeting.
During meeting, Prof. P. Zięba delivered a lecture entitled "Materials Engineering Discipline – the state after battle", followed by a panel discussion entitled "Where the Material Engineering is going in Poland?". The panel was open to participants of the PTM Seminar, as well as to the members of the Committee who were present in Czestochowa.
The discussion presented the position of representatives of the "material engineering" discipline in relation to the collected and presented statistical data from previous assessments submitted by the Chairman of the Committee, prof. Paweł Zięba. The voices in the discussion mainly concerned the need to clarify the definition of "materials engineering" and the method of declaring employees representing various entities to this discipline.
It was unequivocally confirmed that the currently applied rules for the evaluation of scientific units need to be changed in order to eliminate irregularities that depreciate the achievements of units that have been operating for many years in research and teaching areas related to materials engineering.
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Lounching a new domain panel at NCN ST11: Materials Engineering
By the decision of the Council of the National Science Center of July 7, 2022, a new panel ST11: Materials Engineerings was established (see attachment).
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Materials Engineering Forum
Invitation to the seminar of the Material Engineering Forum, during which lectures will be given by prof. Agnieszka Szkliniarz and prof. Rafał Babilas.
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Plenary Meeting No. 6 of the Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences
The 6th Plenary Meeting of the Committee of Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences took place in Wieluń on April 24-25, 2022, in a hybrid form using the Teams platform.
The meeting was preceded by a visit to the company Silum Sp. z o.o., which is one of the leading companies in the foundry industry, specializing in high-pressure die-casting of aluminum alloys for consumers in the field of household appliances, automotive and other branches. Members of the Committee had the opportunity to get accustomed with the production profile and laboratory facilities, which was presented by the President, Wiesław Walczak and vice presidents: Paweł Zawadzki, Igor Zawadzki, and Technical Director Konrad Wrzała.
During the Plenary Meeting, the plans for each section of the Committee for 2020 were presented, the progress made with creation of the new ST 11 Materials Engineering panel at the National Science Center, the negative trends related to the evaluation of scientific institutions in 2022, in particular the threats posed by some scientists working the field of exact and natural sciences, who at the end of 2021 declared a change to the field of engineering and technical sciences with the leading discipline - materials engineering, despite the fact that their scientific achievements are far away from the standards commonly accepted in this discipline.
The progress of works related to the strategic program: "Materials and materials technologies in the circular economy" and participation at the new initiative Materials 2020 Manifesto was also presented.
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A short summary of 2021
The second year of the Committee's operation in the 2020-2023 term has passed. We were hoping to return to the normal course of our activities, but the reality turned out to be more demanding. The ongoing state of the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection caused the IV Plenary Meeting of the Committee to be held remotely. The topic that dominated our meeting was the issue of support for the application for the creation of a new panel at the National Science Center dedicated to Materials Engineering. All members of the Committee unanimously supported this idea, undertaken jointly with the Polish Society of Materials Science. All the chairmen of the Material Engineering Discipline Councils who were present at the meeting also expressed their support, except for the Gdańsk University of Technology. On the basis of the letter addressed to the National Science Center, the Committee also prepared an expertise entitled Map of Materials Engineering in Poland 2021.
The year 2021 also brought the launching a new initiative called the Materials Engineering Forum - as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and information in the field of materials engineering. By the end of 2021, 4 thematic meetings were held, during which 6 lectures by outstanding specialists from various areas of materials science were presented. Regardless of the Forum, particularsections of the Committee were active, co-organizing or hosting various workshops and conferences.
The moment of breath that we received from the virus in the early autumn period was used to perform the XVII Reporting Conference of the Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences METALURGIA 2020, which crowned the long tradition of organizing the recognized and reputable multigenerational Polish-language Reporting Conferences of the former Committee of Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The conference gathered 86 participants, specialists in the field of metallurgy and contemporary materials engineering from all over the country, which we consider a great success in the current situation.
The conference was combined with the V Plenary Meeting of the Committee, which was held in a hybrid mode; however, we were happy with the personal presence of most of the Committee members in Bukowina Tatrzańska. The meeting was an opportunity to preliminary summing up all activities taking place in 2021. Moreover, the members of the Committee were acquainted with the effects of the initiative undertaken jointly with the Polish Society for Materials Science, concerning the continuation of the strategic program at the National Center for Research and Development on materials engineering.
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Materials Engineering Forum
Invitation to the seminar of the Material Engineering Forum, during which lectures will be given by prof. Andrzej Lewenstam and prof. Katarzyna Zakrzewska.
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The current state of foundry in the context of the world economy. Postcovid forecasts
We would like toencourage you to read the survey prepared by Professor Jerzy Sobczak in collaboration with dr. Piotr Dudek entitled "The current state of foundry in the context of the world economy. Postcovid forecasts", which had recently been published in Przegląd Odlewnictwa 11-12/2021.
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Special issue of Polymers (MDPI) - "State-of-the-Art Polymer Science and Technology in Poland (2020,2021)"
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers/special_issues/POL_2020_2021#info
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News about activities o Metallurgy Section
Seminar of the Metallurgy Section of the Committee on Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences
On September 29, 2021, a seminar was organized jointly by the Metallurgy Section of the Committee on Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Metallurgical and Foundry Commission of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Branch in Krakow.
During the seminar, he was delivered by prof. Piotr Migas lecture entitled "High-temperature rheometry and rheological characteristics of selected slag systems."
The chairman of the Metallurgical Section, prof. dr hab. Eng. Mirosław Karbowniczek and the chairman of the Metallury Section, prof. dr hab. Eng. Marek Dziarmagowski discussed the concept of cooperation between both units of the Polish Academy of Sciences, including joint ventures in the organization of seminars, meetings and events.
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News about activities of Technological Processes Section
I Plenary Meeting of the Section of Technological Processes
On April 21, 2021, the 1st Meeting of the Technological Processes Section of the Committee for Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences took place in a remote form. 35 section members participated in the meeting.
II Plenary Meeting of the Section of Technological Processes
On November 18, the 2nd Meeting of the Section of Technological Processes of the Committee for Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences took place in a remote form. 30 section members and 20 invited guests participated in the meeting.
During the seminar, Dr. Łukasz Szymański, the laureate of this year's edition of the competition for the best doctoral dissertation of the Technology Process Section defended in 2020 in the field of foundry, delivered a lecture on "Composite layers produced in situ in Fe based alloys castings",
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New PAS Members
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are pleased to announce that during the 145th Session of the General Assembly of the Polish Academy of Sciences on December 3, 2021, the resolutions were adopted on the election of Professor Natalia Sobczak as a Corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Professor Jerzy Lis as an Ordinary member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
We would like to congratulate to the newly elected members.
Presidium
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The XVII Conference METALLURGIA 2020
The XVII Conference METALLURGIA 2020 of the of the Polish Academy of Sciences was held in Bukowina Tatrzanska on October 20-22, 2021. The Conference was organized by the Technical Association of Polish Foundrymen and the Committee for Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The conference gathered 86 participants, specialists in the field of metallurgy and contemporary materials engineering from all over the country, distinguished professors, members of the PAN correspondents, honorary professors and doctors, former and current rectors, vice-rectors, deans, directors, and many young scientists from universities, research institutes and institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The honorary guests of the conference were: Dr. Anna Wieczorek, the coordinator of disciplines in the field of exact and technical sciences from the National Science Center (who delivered the lecture "Application possibilities of projects in the field of Material Engineering") and Professor Leszek Rafalski, Chairman of the Main Council of Research Institutes (with a lecture "The future of research institutes").
On the first day of the Conference, four plenary papers were presented, devoted to the issues of liquid-phase metallurgy (Prof. Natalia Sobczak from IMMS PAS "The secret world of liquid metal"), powder metallurgy and production methods (Prof. Tomasz Czujko from the Military University of Technology "Additive methods of material production"), plastic forming processes (Prof. Zbigniew Gronostajski from the Wrocław University of Technology "Innovations in plastic forming processes") and numerical methods (Prof. Andriy Burbelko from AGH "Numerical modeling of physical phenomena in metal casting"). In the following days, a total of 48 papers were delivered, grouped into four thematic blocks: fundamentals of technology, theory of metallurgical processes, theory of foundry processes, physics of metals and metallurgy, and powder metallurgy.
The organizers took care of an exhaustive set of conference materials: participants received an almost 80-page collection of summaries of each of the speeches and a 630-page monograph under the traditional name of "Metallurgy 2020", published by the Committee for Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences (in the Archives of Foundry Engineering (AFE) series), containing 27 chapters, based on the contributions submitted by the conference participants and evaluated, following common reviewing procedure of AFE. Unpublished contributions of the Conference participants will be published in a post-conference special issue of the Archive of Metallurgy and Materials.
The Honorary Chairman of the METALURGIA 2020 Conference was Professor Paweł Zięba, Corresp. Member of PAN, and the Organizing and Scientific Committee was chaired by Professor Jerzy J. Sobczak,DHC.
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Plenary Meeting No. 5 of the Committee for Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 22 October 2021
During meeting a preliminary summary of the Committee's activities in 2021 was presented. It covered the issue of changing the structure of some panels at the National Science Center in order to distinguish the discipline “Materials Engineering”, a document developed by the Committee presenting the current situation in the field of Materials Engineering, which appeared due to the implementation in 2018, information on meetings of the Council of Chairmen of Scientific Committees of the Polish Academy of Sciences, publishing activities of Archives of Metallurgy and Materials and a summary of the conference "Metallurgy 2020".
Then, the presidents of individual sections discussed their activities in 2021.
Committee Members were also informed about coming the Jubilee XXV Seminar of the Polish Society for Materials and information about the book by Prof. Jerzy Sobczak was provided. In connection with extensive initiatives to strengthen the importance and dynamic development of materials engineering in the domestic economy, the Chairman was asked to send letters of intent by the Committee of Materials Science and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences to university Rectors, in order to provide special support and strengthen the position of this discipline, so that of the future, meet the challenges of modern industry and a competitive economy.
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Materials Engineering Forum
Invitation to the seminar of the Material Engineering Forum, during which lectures will be given by prof. Tomasz Goryczka and prof. Sudipta Seal.
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Plenary meeting of the Section of Metallic Materials of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
On 23rd September 2021, at the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, the plenary meeting of the Section of Metallic Materials of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee, PAS, took place. There were 26 Members of the Section present.
The President of the Section, Prof. Tadeusz Kulik, opened the meeting, expressed his thanks to Prof. Agnieszka Kopia, the Dean of the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science, AGH UST, for the effort of organising the meeting at her premises. Then, the President welcomed all the attending Members of the Section. Subsequently, Prof. Kulik handed over the acts of appointment to all the present Members and introduced the Leaders of the teams: Prof. Agnieszka Kopia (Team of Surface Engineering), Prof. Dariusz Oleszak (Team of Nanomaterials) and Prof. Maria Sozańska (Team of Phase Transitions and Materials Degradation).
The President of the Section presented the structure and aims of the Polish Academy of Sciences, its Departments and Committees, and briefly gave a picture of the scientific and organisation activities of the Section.
Next, Prof. Agnieszka Kopia presented the scientific and educational activities as well as the infrastructure and scientific equipment of the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science, AGH UST, the host institution of the meeting.
Following the presentation of the host institution, the Members of the Section shortly introduced the fields of their and their teams’ scientific interests. The absent Members were presented by the Leaders of the respective teams.
In the next part of the meeting, the Members of the Section discussed the present problems of the Polish society of materials engineering and the ways of engagement of the Section to improve the environment of scientific activities in the area of materials science.
After the discussion, the President of the Section expressed his thanks to all the Members for their attendance, and thanked Prof. Agnieszka Kopia for being the host of the plenary meeting. Finally, Prof. Tadeusz Kulik closed the plenary meeting.
After the meeting, the attendees had the lunch. After the lunch, several persons visited the laboratories of the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science, AGH UST.
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Non-Metal Materials in the Committee of Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences Section Meeting
The Section of Non-Metal Materials in the Committee of Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences proceeded on-line between 8 and 10 February, 2021 and presented the most important Polish scientific centers that conduct research within the scope of the section. The session was opened by Prof. Błędzki (WPUT in Szczecin) who chairs the Section in the new term (2020 – 2024). The subjects discussed on successive days corresponded to the topics chosen by the members of the section.
During the proceedings of the Institute of Polymer Materials chaired by Prof. Błędzki, 11 reports were presented. One of the presenters, Wiesław Kozioł, MSc, Eng, Director of Research and Implementation Department in Grupa Azoty SA in Tarnów, characterized the Group’s potential in terms of polymer production (polyamides, caprolactam, plasticizers, polyoxymethylene). He also laid out what the company expects from its scientific partners. Grupa Azoty is interested in news polymers, new technologies of their production, polymer recycling processes in circular economy, modernization of current technologies to improve their efficiency and adjust them to the existing legal regulations. The Group is happy to extend a helping hand in law-making process to harmonize new legislation with the rules of European Green Deal. Grupa Azoty cooperates with the scientists from Łukasiewicz Research Network.
The session of the Institute of Composite Materials was chaired by Prof. Anna Boczkowska (Warsaw University of Technology), the head of the institute. 12 reports were delivered during the meeting.
The session of the Institute of Ceramic Materials was chaired by Prof. Dariusz Kata (AGH University of Science and Technology). 7 reports were presented.
The presentations delivered during the proceedings have a great informative potential. It seems to be necessary for the Polish producers of non-metals to be included in the Section’s activities and to continue meetings held in production plants initiated in the last term of office.
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Prof. dr hab. inż. Mirosław Karbowniczek - "Electric Arc Furnace Steelmaking"
We are pleased to announce that a book by our colleague, Prof. dr hab. Mirosława Karbowniczek entitled "Electric Arc Furnace Steelmaking" has just been published by the prestigious American CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group.
Congratulations to the Author, and more information about book can be found in:
Scheduled date for the book's official media presentation: September 20, 2021.
Committee Presidium
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II Meeting of the Council of Chairmen of Scientific Committees of the Polish Academy of Sciences
On June 25, 2021, the 2nd Meeting of the Council of Chairmen of Scientific Committees of the Polish Academy of Sciences took place. One of the points discussed was the draft of Regulations for the selection of members and bodies of scientific committees. They were discussed and adopted some details relating to the structure of committees, which will be valid for the period 2024-2028. The first plenary meeting of newly formed committee will establish the structure, possibly divided into into sections, commissions or task teams. However, only committee members will be allowed to be section and commissions members. On the other hand, other persons who are distinguished experts in the field, but who are not members of the committee and are not members of the committee may be invited to the task teams. The entire Regulations will be analyzed by the Legal Office of the Polish Academy of Sciences and also will be subjected to the final approval by the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
The current state of the committees' websites was an important information provided during the meeting. Among 78 operating committees, only in relation to 25 of them no critical comments showing room for improvement was formulated.
We are pleased to inform my colleagues that the Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences was also among those 25 committees.
Committee Presidium
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Formal letter for the creation of the ST11 Panel "Materials Engineering" in the research area of Natural and Technical Sciences
On April 9, 2021 Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Polish Society of Materials Science, Discipline Councils of Materials Engineering of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Silesian University of Technology and Warsaw University of Technology, Scientific Council of the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, in co-operation with the Rector of the AGH University of Science and Technology, the Deans of the Faculties of Materials Science and Engineering of the Warsaw University of Technology and the Silesian University of Technology, and the Director of the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, sent the formal letter to the Council of the National Science Center indicating urgent need for the creation of a separate ST11 Panel "Materials Engineering" in the research area of Natural and Technical Sciences. The application was supported by resolutions of the Materials Engineering Discipline Councils from whole Poland.
We are waiting for a response that will satisfy the entire scientific community working in the field of Materials Engineering.
Committee Presidium
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Map of Materials Engineering in Poland 2021
The entry into force of the Law on Higher Education and Science of July 3, 2018 introduced a new quality in terms of the requirements for awarding doctoral and habilitation degrees. This is due to the introduction of the provision that education, research and development works are carried out in fields of science and scientific disciplines. As a consequence, the degree is only possible in the field of science and scientific discipline, but in relation to the entire scientific unit. Also, the introduction of a new classification regarding scientific fields and disciplines placed materials engineering and metallurgy together in the field of materials engineering and technical sciences.
This forced a change in the organizational structure, in the vast majority of universities, where the scientific staff representing Materials Engineering or Metallurgy of particular departments was included in "Discipline" with own council and authorities, independent of the authorities of the parent department. Such a situation did not occur at the institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, but only if its employees could be assigned to one discipline. It should not be forgotten that the establishment of the Łukasiewicz Research Network deprived some scientific and research institutes of their rights to promote scientific staff.
Nowadays, the scientific and research potential in particular scientific units is different, both in terms of quantity and uniformity understood as 100% research involvement in the Materials Engineering Discipline. This is illustrated by the second column in attached Table, in which the first number is the total number of persons in the discipline, and the second number is a conversion to the number N denoting the fraction of research involvement (100%, 75%, 50%, 25%) and taking into account that some members of the scientific staff have not the full-time position.
The only research unit in which 100% of employees declared Materials Engineering is the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences. There are very uniform disciplines at the Poznań University of Technology (only 4 persons with 75% involvement), the Łódź University of Technology, where only 1 person declared less than 100% and there are a few part-time employees. A similar situation is at the Warsaw University of Technology, where all employees of the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering have declared 100% departments, and there are still 6 persons from other faculties with a share of 25 and 50%. (4 persons 50%, 18 persons 75%) as well University of Silesia (4 persons 25% and 3 persons 75%) and the Military University of Technology (only 3 persons out of 50%). A very uniform unit is the University of Technology and Humanities and the Cracow University of Technology, but the overall number of persons working in Materials Science is relatively limited.
At the AGH University of Science and Technology, 240 persons indicated the Materials Engineering Discipline as 100%, 38-75%, 58 persons indicated with a share of 50% and the remaining 28 persons with a share of 25%. At the Rzeszów University of Technology, 12 persons are 50%, 2 persons 50%, 1 person 25%. The Częstochowa University of Technology, where only 33 persons have a 100% share, and the rest are 22 persons with 75%, 17 persons from 50% and 22 persons from 25%. A similar structure is in the Material Engineering Discipline at the Gdańsk University of Technology, in which among 55 persons there are 3 persons with 75%, 4 persons with 50% and 24 persons with 25%, as well as the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences, in which 17 persons declared 100%, 10 persons 75%, but also as many as 42 persons with 50% share and 3 persons with 25%.
There is no Materials Engineering as a discipline at the Technical Universities of Białystok, Koszalin, Lublin, Opole, Radom, Wrocław and the University of Zielona Góra. In these units, persons who worked in the field of Materials Engineering declared their affiliation to the Discipline of Mechanical Engineering. It is interesting what other disciplines are indicated when Materials Engineering is not the first one, but the second declared discipline. The most frequently mentioned is Mechanical Engineering (56). , Chemical Sciences (22), Biomedical Engineering (14), Chemical Engineering (11), Physical Sciences (11), Environmental Engineering (10), Technical Information Technology and Telecommunications 10, Civil Engineering and Transport (7), Automation, Electronics and Electrical Engineering (5), Computer Science (1), Mathematics (1); the data provided concern 90% of all scientific units.
Materials Engineering Discipline has a significant scientific potential. Among the persons who declared Materials Engineering as the first discipline, there are 121 titular professors (including 25 women), 331 habilitated doctors (99 women), 470 doctors (184 women), 131 persons with a master's degree (58 women) and 8 persons without higher education (2 women). almost 1,100 persons in total (the data excluding Gdańsk University of Technology).
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Plenary Meeting No. 4 of the Committee for Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences
On March 25, 2021, the 4th Plenary Meeting of the Committee of Materials Engineering and Metallurgy of the Polish Academy of Sciences took place. The meeting was held using the Webex platform.
During the meeting, a report on the activities of the Committee in 2020 was presented.
The meeting adopted a resolution to support the application for the creation of a new field panel Materials Engineering at the National Science Center in order to distinguish the Materials Engineering discipline.
The meeting was attended by invited guests representing Polish Universities and Research Institutes in the field of materials engineering. As a result of the discussion, full support from particular Councils of Materials Engineering at the Universities and Research Institutes was declared in the form of special resolutions.
During the meeting, Prof. Maria Sozańska presented the new initiative to establish the Materials Engineering Forum - as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and information in the field of materials engineering.
The current status of preparation for the new strategic project dedicated to materials engineering was also discussed as the common initiative of the Committee and Polish Society for Materials Science.
The Chairman of the Organizing Committee Prof. Jerzy Sobczak informed about the Metallurgy 2020 Conference planned in 2021, which was postponed for a year due to pandemic reasons.
On the other hand, the President of the Polish Society of Materials Science, Prof. Dariusz Kata, presented information on the planned organization of the Jubilee XXV Seminar of the Society.
The meeting ended with a discussion on the upcoming evaluation of scientific units and the evaluation of scientific journals.
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Summary of 2020
The year 2020 ending soon was an exceptional year for all members of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. This was due to the fact that for the first time in the history of the IVth Division of Technical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, two scientific committees were merged: the Materials Science Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
It coincided with the elections according to the new formula, according to which the active and passive law was extended to all persons who obtained habilitation or holding the title of professor. Thus, it is no longer the privilege of people holding the title of professor. Moreover, the new voting formula significantly limited the possibility of selecting a candidate representing one research unit to 5 people.
In this situation, the choice of a 30-persons representation of materials engineering and metallurgy in its present shape must be considered a success and a sign that we will be able to cooperate harmoniously in the new reality.
We also consider it a success to conduct the first Plenary Meeting “face to face”, almost at the last minute. In the Meeting Room of the AGH UST Senate, we selected the Committee's authorities and outlined our plans for the near future.
Unfortunately, the future turned out to be quite a complicated matter due to events commonly known as the "coronavirus pandemic". It cut us off from all direct contacts, and above all from meetings at various symposia, workshops, conferences and meetings.
In this situation, during two so-called The "remote" or “online” Plenary Meetings of the Committee, matters relating to the division into sections, the formulation of section action plans and the election of additional persons as Committee members should be regarded as next success.
From the very beginning, there has been an information channel of the Committee's website, which is updated on a regular basis. We also managed to attract a large part of the Committee's members to the Electron Microscopy Conference, organized by the Silesian University of Technology. Providing the opportunity through "Zoom" to listen to papers, take part in discussions without any additional financial expenses, is a new initiative that may be more widely adopted in the current and protracted critical situation related to the pandemic.
The status of section members remains unsolved, and we expect the position of the vice-president of the Polish Academy of Sciences in this matter. This is important because a successful decision in this regard will allow the particular sections to start operating in the full range of tasks set out in their plans.
We hope that next year will be a breakthrough and that all members of the Committee will meet, and the sections will have a chance to be active.
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First meeting of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
10th March 2020- the first meeting of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The chairman and presidium members were elected
1. Chairman of the Committee - Professor Paweł ZIĘBA, DSc, Corresponding Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences
2. Deputy Chairman of the Committee - Professor Jerzy SOBCZAK, DSc, DHC
3. Deputy Chairman of the Committee - Professor Jarosław MIZERA, DSc
4. Secretary of the Committee - Jerzy ŁABAJ, DSc, Professor at Silesian University of Technology
On April 21, 2020, the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Sciences adopted a resolution appointing Professor Paweł Zięba as the Chairman of the Materials Engineering and Metallurgy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
(enclosure: PPAN_U_9_2020)