For years we have been cooperating with the industry by implementing joint projects or implementation doctorates. It was the representatives of the production facilities who pointed out that the labour market lacked graduates with the competence to functionalize materials in terms of technology. Specifically, those who, on the one hand, would be able to design a given material with a specific application in mind, but also to develop the technology for obtaining it or modifying the material's surface to give it the desired properties. Indeed, in the Lodz region, there is a lack of training of students at a technical university in modern methods of synthesis, processing technology, modification, application and characterization of advanced materials with various functionalities," explains Assoc. Prof. Magdalena Maciejewska, from the Faculty of Chemistry, coordinator of the new field of study.
We focus on practical education and employment prospects after graduation
During the three semesters of studies, a lot of practical and design classes were planned, conducted in close cooperation with specialists from production plants of various industries: from rubber accessories for the automotive industry, through packaging, adhesives and polyurethane foams, sports surfaces or ceramics.
As the coordinator of the course explains: These will be tasks based on real problems faced by technologists on a daily basis. During the classes, the student will have the opportunity to constantly contact a specialist from an industrial plant, learn about various technologies, the specifics of problems and challenges that he may have to face during his professional career.
A good example of practical classes is 3Dprinting technology. It will be implemented at get3D in Lodz. Also, in the case of project classes, carried out based on technological problems developed by production plants, students will have the opportunity to see the technological line to which the problem relates.
The following companies have expressed their willingness to be involved in the implementation of classes Hutchinson in Łódź, BSG in Zgierz, S.Z.T.K. "TAPS" in Łódź, CDM in Ksawerów and GEBERIT Ozorków. Each of them, in questionnaires preceding the process of launching the new field of study, declared their willingness to employ TUL graduates. Technologies of Modern Functional Materials is an interdepartmental field of study, run by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Chemistry. The studies are addressed to holders of an engineering degree. The initiators of the field of study would like students who have completed their bachelor's degree with knowledge and competences in materials engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering to be able to extend their knowledge and competences with issues from the discipline of chemical sciences at the Faculty of Chemistry, and vice versa.
The Master's degree studies will last 1.5 years. Recruitment for the summer semester 2022/2023 starts on January 30, 2023.