We wished to you and ourselves that 2024 may bring new energy and a lot of joy. And that is what we got. We were happy to inform about first, groundbreaking, novel initiatives but also about continuation of wonderful projects.

Researchers at the top

In 2024, the Warsaw University of Technology got the second grant of the European Research Council (ERC), but it was the first ERC Advanced grant. It was awarded to Professor Thomas Skotnicki. The aim of his SFINKS project is to develop a device that transforms atmospheric flows into electrical energy and decreases it by a few orders of magnitude to the size of a nano capsule. In this edition, the ERC Advanced grant was awarded to three Polish scientists only.

We have our representative in another prestigious group – among the winners of the Polish Nobel prize - the Award of the Foundation for Polish Science, given to Professor Janusz Lewiński for his achievements in the field of chemical and materials sciences. The scientist with his team developed mechanochemical methods of perovskite synthesis improving their photovoltaic properties. This pioneering, simple and efficient approach ensures repeatability of the process and results impossible to obtain with other methods.

Engineering hand in hand with medicine

In 2024, work combining engineering and medicine was developing fast. The most spectacular achievements definitely include a successful application of a solution that allows to keep organs for a transplant longer outside the donor’s body. The system developed by the company NanoSanguis established at WUT was used for a kidney transplant in a pig. The organ was outside the donor’s body for 12 hours. The creators of this solution want to extend this time and are thinking about creating a library of organs.

We also informed about other medicine-related projects, such as the exoskeleton for hand rehabilitation, a tool that will make drug research faster, less expensive and more environmentally friendly, use of artificial intelligence to support diagnosis and monitoring of lesions in the chest or a new approach to hospital design.

Universe and space

Thanks to our scientists we learned more about the nature of the Universe. Within the AEgIS project we managed to cool down a positronium sample with laser light and thus open up new opportunities for antimatter research. The research also gave us hope that we will find answers to questions on asymmetry between matter and antimatter – all thanks to the first experimental observation of anti-hypernucleus. Our scientists also presented software for modelling super-liquid nuclear matter of neutron stars, thanks to which we can learn about their inside. 

And if this is not enough, in summer 2024 the Warsaw University of Technology welcomed a multimedia exhibition "Accelerating Science" devoted to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research CERN. There you could practically touch the mysteries of the Universe (and answers to a lot of them). 

Have you ever wondered if one can grow plants in space? Our students started research on that. The experiment concentrates on the application of laser light to stimulate growth of seedlings in microgravity conditions. Our scientists, in turn, investigated Mars. Could you use a dispersed system, a swarm of smaller rovers, instead of a single extremely expensive rover? How and when will the first plant grow on the Red Planet and what conditions do you need to create to achieve that? These are the issues they decided to investigate.

In addition, our students participated in the largest international analogue Moon mission – Mission Analog Colony 1 and a prestigious programme "Fly a Rocket!", where they needed to build, test and launch a student rocket. They also studied the impact of UV radiation and space conditions on the hardening of composite materials (which may be useful, for example, when repairing equipment in space) and the impact of space radiation on degradation of solar panels (a key issue when planning long-term space missions).

From the past to challenges of the future

In 2024 we also worked on history and archaeology. WUT representatives participated in research on Concentration Camp Treblinka II and located gas chambers there, they took part in an international expedition to the islands of Rab and Lukovac in Croatia, where they used their knowledge and skills connected with drones and LIDAR technology and in a Kuwait-Polish mission, during which a courtyard or workshop for mussels jewellery was discovered, dating back 7700 years ago.

In the last 12 months we often wrote about solutions for the environment. These include, for example, a system for water quality monitoring in Poland, a smart system of municipal waste collection management, methods to reuse wood in civil engineering and limiting costs of living in the city. 

WUT researchers developed and will develop energy projects aimed at using electrical waste as a source of valuable critical resources, powering combustion engines with bioethanol, constructing an innovative system for electricity and heat generation for one’s own use, without reliance on a power network, testing energy self-reliance of a university building or development of digital solutions for sustainable management of the energy infrastructure of industrial plants.

Thinking about others

We were all the time close to our neighbourhood. Attention should be drawn to two apps: Gdzie To Metro – help in finding your way around the Warsaw underground and PlaceFinder – to find a place on the train even if PKP Intercity reports no available seats. The tool developed by a WUT team zeszyt.online – which uses AI to teach and learn mathematics – will be used by more students and teachers from all over Poland.

This is not everything. We informed about a solution which will automatically identify faults and potential hazards of railways, which will help prevent train delays, about work on development of a machine for writing in the Braille alphabet, and also about a system for fast detection and extinguishing of fires at airports. The new look of the famous Warsaw palm tree is the result, among others, of the work of a team of WUT specialists who designed and made new leaves.

Our scientists also developed a generator of cryptographic keys (or simply "secret passwords"), which ensures greater safety and is also simple and cheap to use, even in demanding situations. This is new quality in the world of protection of data against unauthorised access. The solution was awarded a European patent of unitary effect, as the first one at the Warsaw University of Technology.

In 2024 we started work on developing an ecosystem for Public Open Data adapted to the conditions of Central Europe and open to all, even the smallest, units of public administration.

We also supported the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity and Noble Package. We were involved in helping people who suffered because of floods in Poland and in Spain. For the third time we organised at the University a photo shoot of dogs that are looking for a new home. We entered the Christmas period with a record-breaking amount of over 50 thousand złoty, which we collected during our Christmas Market. The whole amount will be given out as the Christmas Grant – a distinction for students and doctoral candidates involved in activities for the University.

As always, we warmly welcomed everyone interested in studying at WUT. How many of them there are could be seen during two editions of a programme for secondary schools #alwayscurious. It is an opportunity to see how the Warsaw University of Technology works and what studies are like. In 2024, circa 2100 pupils took advantage of this opportunity.

More innovativeness

In the last months, a lot of satisfaction came from our spin-off companies. ExoFrame, which creates exoskeletons to strengthen humans, was given the President of Poland’s Economic Award and EcoBean, which processes coffee waste, was awarded the Money.pl prize. The Warsaw University of Technology also became one of the four European pilot lines in the area of semiconductor technologies.

We expect more success like that since in 2024, WUT IF was opened – the first in Poland venture capital fund established by a public university – the Warsaw University of Technology with the support of an experienced team of experts. The aim of the company is to invest in deep-tech companies founded by teams coming from WUT and other Polish universities.

University life 

2024 was the end and the beginning of the WUT Authorities’ term of office. The elections did not bring any change of the Rector – this position is still held by Professor Krzysztof Zaremba. The Vice-Rectors also remained the same. There are, however, quite a few new Deans – at 9 Faculties new leaders were elected. 

In the last 12 months, new teams and units were created at WUT. The Council of Young Researchers was appointed, the main task of which is to support the development of young scientists at our University. Welcome Point was also opened to provide services to international students, doctoral candidates and employees, as well as guests.

It is easier to move around WUT premises – also historic, non-standard and surprising ones – thanks to a system of apps, launched in 2024. Importantly, it was developed by our researchers.

A novelty is also the programme #AlumniPW, which tightens the relations between our University and its graduates. Within this undertaking we organised debates ”Alumni in the industry” and meetings “Graduate in the world”. This project will surely be developed further.

We also cared for teaching. We started implementation of projects OMNIS and OMNIS2 (Open. Modern. New. Integrated. Social), under which we adapt our teaching offer to the needs of the job market in key branches, we update study programmes and improve the competitiveness of our graduates. We are also one of 12 partner universities in the project ”Universities of the Future”. Its main aim is to implement an innovative education model based on students’ own projects, allowing students to pursue an individual educational scheme and development of key competences of the future.

Ahead of us is an exceptional year since it prepares us for the 200^th anniversary of the Warsaw University of Technology, which we will celebrate in 2026. It will surely be intense. Join us then!