More Engineers from UJW

On March 28, 2022, fourteen students in the Mining and Geology program, specializing in mineral resource exploitation techniques, took their diploma exams. Their initial stress quickly gave way to joy at earning their engineering degrees. The diploma exams took place at the Lubin Branch Campus.

“Mining and Geology is our flagship program, which we run in partnership with KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.,” says Anna Wojciechowicz, BEng, PhD, Dean of the Lubin Branch Campus. “Together, we ensure the quality of education in this program, develop topics for engineering theses, and keep our fingers crossed for our graduating students.”

As for engineering defenses, students first give presentations on their work, including their theses, results, and conclusions, then they answer questions from the reviewer as well as questions related to their field of study and specialization, which are prepared by the committee, including employees of Polska Miedź,” he adds. There are quite a few women in the Mining and Geology program, even though it seems to be a typically male-dominated field. As for its popularity, it is comparable to that of Management, which is offered at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels. Among the fourteen students taking the diploma exam, there was one woman.

“The stress is immense, just like before any important exam in life – I think it’s the same for my classmates,” said Agata Czuba, a graduate in mining and geology. “We were studying and preparing for our presentations right up until the very end.” It’s easier to grasp the basics, even if you don’t work in that specific field, but for example, we didn’t have an open-pit mine – there aren’t any mines like that in our area – so it was harder to learn that part. Why did I choose this field of study? It was part of the plan. I’m a pharmaceutical technician, so there was some overlap with laboratory work when it came to rock samples and mining operations. It was all connected. “People always want to make a change, to try something new,” she adds.

For a classmate of Agata’s from her college days, who works at KGHM, the title of engineer is the next step in his professional career.

“I’d rather not get questions about coal mines, because they’re open-pit mines, which we don’t know much about,” said Wiktor Janczak before the exam. “I don’t think I’ll have any trouble talking about the mine where we work.”

The thesis advisors were: Anna Wojciechowicz, BEng, PhD and Władysław Turkiewicz, BEng, PhD. In March, engineering exams for the Management and Production Engineering program were also held in Lubin, with the Mining program exams following on April 1. In Polkowice, meanwhile, graduates of the Computer Science and Mechatronics programs have already completed their diploma exams, and students in the Logistics program are waiting for their turn. We’re keeping our fingers crossed!