“The BEST Way Forward” – International programme launches at WUT

The “The BEST Way Forward” programme was initiated by the Polish Chamber of Printing and the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology. It aims to strengthen cooperation between the academic community, the education sector, industry organizations, and businesses. The initiative is addressed to the printing sector, with a particular focus on international cooperation.

Nearly 60 representatives of the academic community, education sector, and industry gathered at the inaugural meeting. Among the participants were, among others: Prof. Li Jianhua – Rector of the Shanghai Publishing and Printing College and Vice President of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology; Prof. Volker Jansen – Dean of Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart; Lesia Stetsiv, PhD – Director of the Institute of Printing Art and Media Technologies at Lviv Polytechnic; Ištvan David – President of Asociatia Tipografilor Transilvania; Zoltan Kanovits – FESPA Slovakia / CEO of Kanovits Print Atelier; Prof. Dariusz Kuźmina – Dean of the Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies at the University of Warsaw; Jacek Kuśmierczyk – President of the Polish Chamber of Printing; and Prof. Tomasz Chmielewski – Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology. The meeting was also attended by representatives of vocational schools from various regions of Poland, including Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Poznań, Skierniewice, and Warsaw.

“This is another important innovation in the process of practical education of students at the Warsaw University of Technology,” emphasizes Prof. Tomasz Chmielewski, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at WUT. “The initiatives carried out within the ‘The BEST Way Forward’ programme support not only the promotion of the engineering profession and engineering systems in the printing sector, but also the development of scientific research, vocational education, and the integration of the industry community.”

During the inaugural meeting, discussions were also held on the potential for developing international cooperation between the Shanghai Publishing and Printing College — a Chinese university specializing in the printing and packaging sectors — and the authorities of the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at WUT. The Shanghai Publishing and Printing College also presented a model of cooperation between education and industry developed in China, as well as opportunities for developing scientific, teaching, and student partnerships with Polish universities and European institutions.

As Prof. Tomasz Chmielewski, Dean of the Faculty, explains, plans include modernizing the second-cycle studies in the Engineering Printing Systems programme, including introducing the possibility of studying in English and adapting the curriculum to the dynamic changes taking place in the market. 

“This is a natural step in the process of building a European education centre at the Warsaw University of Technology,” says Prof. Tomasz Chmielewski.

Inauguration of the “The BEST Way Forward” programme