The successes of the students of Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

Centre for homeless youth

The participants of the "Step Forward" student competition had to design a centre for homeless youths. The place had to meet several requirements. First of all, it should provide shelter for young people without a roof over their heads, but that is not all. It was also important to give them a chance to get back on their feet. The designs therefore also had to include spaces for learning new skills or interacting with other people in the centre. In addition, the building had to be inexpensive, in keeping with its surroundings and able to accommodate 60 people.

Kaja Lewandowska, a student of the Faculty of Architecture at Wrocław University of Science and Technology handled this task best and won the international competition in Toronto. The concept proposed by her was also the subject of her engineering thesis.

- Facilities of this type provide young people with accommodation and access to education, medical care, psychological counselling and careers advice. So I divided the centre into residential wings and a teaching area with workshops, an outdoor theatre, a library and an experimental kitchen, among other things. I connected the residential wings with a greenhouse, which would be a place for cultivating and conducting group horticulture therapy, based on physical work connected with gardening

- admitted Kaja Lewandowska via the university's website.

Distinguished diploma theses

The Polish Mathematical Society awarded the diploma theses of Dawid Haranhan and Mateusz Śliwiński. Dawid Haranhan is a graduate of the Faculty of Mathematics at Wrocław University of Science and Technology. His thesis entitled "Sharp estimation of Jacobi heat kernel on a cone" won him second place in the Józef Marcinkiewicz competition for the best thesis in mathematics. Such a successful attempt to tackle this problem was the result of several years of fascination with mathematical analysis.

- I went to one of the tutors to ask about additional materials, books or assignments. He recommended me a textbook related to one of the most modern branches of classical analysis, the so-called harmonic analysis. I liked this field so much that I decided to study it

- explained Dawid Haranhan.

Dawid Haranhan's thesis was recognised by PTM

The jury also distinguished the work of Mateusz Śliwiński. A doctoral student at the Faculty of Mathematics wrote the thesis entitled "Estimation of eigenfunctions for harmonics" that received considerable recognition from the Polish Mathematical Society.

Special prize for a breathing sensor

Arkadiusz Ziółkowski has created an inexpensive breath sensor

The National Student-Inventor Competition has been organised for 12 years by the Kielce University of Technology. The competition committee awards students, doctoral students and graduates who, during their studies, created or co-created an invention or design protected by an exclusive right - a utility or industrial design. The result of the work must be submitted for protection to the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland or an industrial property office abroad. This year's edition of the competition was very popular. Representatives of 19 universities submitted as many as 103 projects.

Eventually, five equal main prizes, distinctions and special prizes were awarded. The latter was won by Arkadiusz Ziółkowski, a doctoral student from the Faculty of Fundamental Technological Research. He created a prototype of a sensor used to measure the frequency of breathing. What is more, Arkadiusz Ziółkowski has also developed the very method of measurement. The cheap and very sensitive solution appealed to the jury. Non-medical breathing sensors available on the market can cost from one thousand to several thousand zlotys. The prototype of a doctoral student from the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology would reduce the production costs even to less than PLN 100 while maintaining sufficiently high quality.

Breakthrough in the fight against herpes

The award was also granted to a group of scientists who together with researchers from the Jagiellonian University discovered the potential of a chemical compound in the fight against the HSV-1 virus. The Wroclaw University of Science and Technology was represented in the team by Dominika Iwan, M.Sc., Elżbieta Wojaczyńska, Ph.D., professor of the university, Marcin Sieńczyk, Ph. Scientists have studied a chemical compound that effectively inhibits the reproduction of the herpes virus, one of the most widespread human pathogens. According to estimates, about 90 per cent of the entire population are carriers of HSV-1.

- Symptoms of infection are usually mild and limited to fluid-filled blisters and sores, popularly known as 'cold sores'. However, HSV-1 can also cause much more serious conditions, e.g. viral keratitis can lead to blindness, and viral encephalitis even to death

- admitted doctoral student Dominika Iwan on the website of the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.

Dominika Iwan and her team have discovered a way to fight herpes

The patent procedure for the discovery is in progress. The results of laboratory analyses carried out by scientists from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology and the Jagiellonian University have also been presented in an international application.