On May 9, 2023, the Center for Advanced Materials and Technologies CEZAMAT of the Warsaw University of Technology hosted a conference entitled “Science-Industry-Army. Common Defense Challenges”. The conference was related to discussing the challenges of cooperation between science and industry for defense purposes.

The conference was opened by prof. Adam Woźniak, Vice-Rector for Development of the Warsaw University of Technology, who reminded about the three main obligations enshrined in the Law on Defense of the Homeland passed a year ago. “The first commitment is to increase the size of the army. This is an obvious commitment, especially in these times. The second commitment is the modernization and reinforcement of Polish army. The third commitment that interests us most during this conference is the development and support of our innovative national solutions. The mission of the technical university is activities for the benefit of society and the economy. In my opinion, we are also implementing this task in the form of innovations for the defense and security of the Polish State” prof. Woźniak said.

 

 

During the conference, we had the opportunity to listen to a speech by Colonel Paweł Więcek from the Innovation Department of the Ministry of National Defense, who reported on the assumptions of the document “Priority directions of scientific research in the Ministry of National Defense in the years 2021-2035”. “This is a reference document in the Ministry of National Defense, presenting the vectors of the expected development of technology, and thus the directions of future scientific research, serving the development of the Armed Forces” Colonel Więcek said.

The document included, among others: information on such areas as: sensor microelectronics, optical and photonic components, laser technology, integrated circuits resistant to high overloads or microwave power electronics. “All these elements and many others are necessary components of modern military equipment” the colonel said.

The conference was divided into two parts. In the first session, projects and innovative technologies developed by CEZAMAT PW research teams were presented. “The Center for Advanced Materials and Technologies CEZAMAT of the Warsaw University of Technology are laboratories that from the very beginning were designed to prepare solutions in the defense and security sector. I don’t have to convince anyone here that the cooperation between science, industry and the army is something that brings more and more results. Our Center is interdisciplinary and we have ready-made solutions that are practically possible to use in the next few months” Mariusz Wielec, director of CEZAMAT PW said.

During the session, achievements in the field of printed wearable electronics, photonics and optics, as well as the possibilities of commercially making large-area structures in electrography and laser lithography techniques were presented.

The second part of the conference included presentations of companies and universities related to defense and a discussion panel “Challenges for cooperation between industry and science”, attended by: Tomasz Bujak, President of the Management Board of TELBUD S.A., Mirosław Iwaćkowski, Management Board of CRW Telesystem-Mesko Sp. z o.o., Anna Ścieszko-Osińska, President of the Management Board of Warszawskie Zakłady Mechaniczne WUZETEM S.A. and prof. Arkadiusz Tofil, Rector of the State Academy of Applied Sciences in Chełm. During the conference, you could also see an exhibition of technologies developed by teams of the Warsaw University of Technology.