Another meeting of transport scientists from all over the world took place in Katowice
The Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology has long been a platform for discussion and exchange of information about new technical solutions, scientific achievements, new teaching methods and other developments in the transport industry. Such a traditional scientific event is the international symposium and conference called "Transport Problems", which are held annually at the aforementioned faculty and other places in southern Poland, and attract many foreign guests.
On June 27-28, 2022, the XI Symposium of Young Researchers engaged in research related to broadly understood problems of transport was held at the Faculty of Transport of the Silesian University of Technology, and on 29.06-01.07.2022, the XIV International Scientific Conference "Transport Problems 2022" was held in Katowice. These two events should be considered as a comprehensive proposal for the exchange of scientific ideas since they complement each other, and many scientists participate in the symposium and conference at the same time. The publication of a monograph (materials of the conference) common for the symposium and the conference, with a volume of about a thousand pages, can be proof of this. This year's symposium and conference, despite the still unfinished threat of the Sars-Cov-2 virus, gathered at least a number of participants compared to previous years (244 specialists from 19 countries).
As noted above, research papers were presented at the conference and published in a post-conference edition of 95 articles. The conference was attended by scientists from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, which allows us to state that this conference is one of the main platforms for intercontinental exchange and scientific discussions related to the transport sector, which is so important for the economy.
It is worth noting that in the previous two years these events were held remotely, but the main and only venue for debates and broadcasts was the university building. This year it was decided to hold the symposium and conference in a mixed mode. Because of this decision, the organizers had to overcome many additional difficulties. One example was that the plenary session was held in the building of the aforementioned faculty, while the thematic sessions and the main part of the session were held in the Business Hotel „Silesian” (Katowice) in parallel sessions, with simultaneous broadcast on the Zoom and YouTube platforms. Moving meetings and facilities from one site to another while ensuring the required quality and stability of the broadcast was an important organizational challenge. In addition, through no fault of the organizers of the conference and symposium "Transport Problems", the dates of these events coincided with the dates of the World Urban Forum in Katowice (WUF11), which greatly complicated the accommodation of conference and symposium participants in hotels. However, the organizers took it upon themselves to organize these events in such a problematic but previously publicly announced time frame, as potential participants have long known that these events traditionally take place in the last week of June.
The organization of these events has also been particularly difficult due to the Russian attack on Ukraine and the ongoing war there. In previous years, representatives of Russia and Belarus participated in each conference. But in the current situation, the organizers of the conference decided to exclude scientists from these countries from the composition of the scientific committee and forbid their specialists to participate in the conference. On the other hand, as a sign of solidarity with all the Polish people who support Ukraine in its unequal struggle against the aggressor, it was decided to release the Ukrainian participants from the conference fee.
The plenary session of the conference was held at the Faculty of Transport. It was opened by the conference coordinator, prof. Aleksander Sładkowski. Then the rector of the Silesian University of Technology, prof. DSc Arkadiusz Mężyk and the mayor of Katowice, dr. Marcin Krupa, since the conference is held under the patronage of the mayor of Katowice and the rector of the Silesian University of Technology. The third patron of the conference is the National Representation of Doctoral Students, which, in particular, patronizes the Symposium of Young Researchers, where many interesting reports of doctoral students from different countries were presented.
The plenary session was also attended by leading scientists from Poland, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, and Bulgaria, as well as representatives of the Road Traffic Department of the Voivodeship Police Administration in Katowice, as well as the Voivodship Road Transport Inspectorate. The reports touched upon the problems of all branches of transport. Further discussions were held in 10 sections in two parallel streams. Of particular interest were the speeches of delegations from Kazakhstan, Algeria, Slovakia, Georgia, Jordan, and a number of other countries.
The participants of the conference and symposium could also get acquainted with the production of rail vehicles at Alstom's largest European plant located in Chorzow. It is important to note that this factory also has a design department. The participants of the conference and symposium could learn about the functioning of the modern Katowice International Airport, see the airport in Gliwice with a hangar for training aircraft and a modern flight simulator of the Silesian University of Technology, as well as get acquainted with the culture and history of the Silesian region during a visit to the GUIDO Mine in Zabrze and the Historic Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Gory.
Summing up, we can state that the XIV International Scientific Conference and the XI Symposium of Young Researchers, held under the general title "Transport Problems", ended with undoubted success. The organizers of the conference invite all scientists and practitioners interested in the exchange of experience in the above industry, next year, to the next events, which will be held on June 26-30, 2023.
Speech by the patron of the conference, the rector of the Silesian University of Technology, prof. DSc Arkadiusz Mężyk during the plenary session of the conference
Plenary session of the conference at the Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology
Paper at the Symposium of Young Researchers presented online by Aman Shakenov, PhD student from Almaty (Kazakhstan)
Conference participants visiting Europe's largest Alstom plant located in Chorzów
Before entering the territory of the Katowice International Airport, conference participants undergo an introductory briefing
Conference participants visiting the GUIDO mine in Zabrze
Participants of the symposium during a visit to the airport in Gliwice: the Uzbek-Croatian crew “pilots” the training aircraft of the Academic Aviation Training Center of the Silesian University of Technology
Symposium participants study a modern flight simulator at the Faculty of Automation, Electronics and Informatics of the Silesian University of Technology
During a visit to the Historic Silver Mine in the Tarnowskie Gory, the participants of the symposium had the opportunity to go underground in boats
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