5th Student Conference “A Window into Construction” – Now Behind Us

 The event was organized by DRUTEX, in collaboration with the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the Gdańsk University of Technology, represented by Dr. Eng. Marcin Szczepański and the “KOBRA” Student Research Group.

The conference gathered 66 students from technical universities across Poland, representing the Gdańsk University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, Silesian University of Technology, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Kielce University of Technology, and Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

The event was officially opened by Adam Leik, Managing Director of DRUTEX, who presented the company’s activities and development strategy. The opening was followed by student presentations focused on modern technologies and sustainable, eco-friendly approaches to construction design and implementation.

The projects were evaluated by a jury composed of: Dr. Eng. Henryk Kowalczyk, Dr. Eng. Hanna Weber, Dr. Eng. Szymon Skibicki, Dr. Eng. Maciej Cwyl, Dr. Eng. Tadeusz Zwoliński, Dr. Eng. Filip Grzymski, Prof. Dr. Eng. Marcin Kozłowski, Dr. Eng. Marcin Szczepański, and Dr. Eng. Rafał Ossowski. The four highest-rated teams advanced to the second stage of the conference – Oxford-style debates.

Before the final stage, participants had the opportunity to tour DRUTEX’s modern production halls and in-house research laboratory, gaining firsthand insight into the company's manufacturing processes and technological innovations.

In the final debate, students from Gdańsk University of Technology competed against representatives of Warsaw University of Technology. The task for both teams was to convince the jury and audience of their respective theses. The winner was the team Gekon PG from Gdańsk University of Technology, who received the trophy and the recognition of industry experts.

As an additional honor, papers from the three finalist teams will be published in the print edition of Builder magazine, in a special Builder Science issue dedicated to the conference.

The “A Window into Construction” conference is a prime example of successful collaboration between academia and industry, creating opportunities for the development of young engineers and fostering knowledge exchange between universities and the business sector.