Port of Gdańsk supports young scientists
“Towards the Port – a sea of opportunities” (“Kierunek Port – morze możliwości”) is a joint initiative of Gdynia Maritime University and the port of Gdańsk. The task of students was to construct innovative devices that could be used in the port in Gdańsk. The main prize funded by the Management Board of the Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A. was granted to the Seanovation design team.
“The project ‘Towards the Port – a sea of opportunities’ perfectly reflects the objective and the research and development potential of this initiative. I can’t imagine that challenges posed by the contemporary maritime economy, which require innovative and often unconventional solutions and creativity, could be faced without the involvement of students. These young people have the potential we need. The partnership between science and business allows for a transfer of technologies that affect the dynamic growth of maritime economy,” says Łukasz Greinke, President of the Management Board of the Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A.
The competition started in 2019. Since the very beginning, it has stirred a lot of emotion among students and the academic staff. Lecturers from Gdynia Maritime University have supervised student projects submitted to the competition.
“A sea of opportunities opens up to science, which has gained a practical value, and to business, which receives innovative solutions based on in-depth research. There are mutual benefits, so as a university, we really value this collaboration with the Management Board of the Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A.,” says Professor Adam Weintrit, Ph.D., D.Sc., Eng., Master Mariner, Rector of Gdynia Maritime University.
One of the two finalists was the Young Port Experts team, supervised by Adam Kaizer, Ph.D., Eng., from the Faculty of Navigation of Gdynia Maritime University. The team worked on a system that could be used to inventory and supervise the technical conditions of the underwater section of the quay in the Port of Gdańsk. The other team was Seanovation, supervised by Mirosław Tyliszczak, M.Eng., from the Faculty of Marine Engineering of Gdynia Maritime University.
The jury decided to grant the main prize funded by the Management Board of Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A. to the Seanovation design team.
“Team members are really happy and most importantly, are satisfied that their research work, in-depth analyses and experiments that were repeated multiple times, resulted in this success,” sums up the supervisor of Seanovation, Mirosław Tyliszczak, M.Eng.
The team worked on an installation for the disposal of selected organic waste from ships using low-temperature pyrolysis. The project has an invaluable ecological potential because it will make it possible to process plastic waste and oiled sea water. In the course of research, the team obtained three products, in particular diesel fuel, which can be used alone or as a component of fuel in compression ignition engines.
The implementation potential of projects carried out by students of Gdynia Maritime University is highly appreciated by Kamil Tarczewski, Infrastructure Vice-President of the Management Board of the Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A.: “I am very impressed by the presented research and development solutions. It is visible how much work was required to complete the long process of analysis and then the process of technology development. Such projects have a huge commercial potential and we will definitely discuss it with the university and students. After all, this is the aim of this competition – to come up with interesting solutions that could be implemented in the Port of Gdańsk.”
Janusz Karp, Ph.D., Director of Marine Education Department in the Ministry of Infrastructure, who was present at the prize giving ceremony, drew attention to the role of Gdynia Maritime University and the Port of Gdańsk in the development of Polish maritime economy: “Without the people of the sea, the Polish maritime economy could not exist or develop. I am talking about students and lecturers at maritime universities and experienced employees of maritime companies. Today’s meeting of science and business brings together two entities that are of particular importance to the maritime economy: Gdynia Maritime University and the Port of Gdańsk. I am proud that these two institutions take such development initiatives, which give university students a chance for scientific and professional growth.”
