You chose to study at the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering. What made you choose it?
I come from a small town, so environment and ecology have always been close to me. That’s why I decided to attend a Secondary Technical School specializing in Environmental Engineering and Landscaping. After secondary school, I was already sure what course of study I wanted to take. I considered studying at Lodz University of Technology or Warsaw University of Life Sciences. Eventually, I decided to choose the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering at TUL, which turned out to be a very good decision. In my opinion, the biggest advantage of this faculty is its interdisciplinary character and its approach to problems from both the process and design perspectives.
Environmental engineering - what does it offer?
While studying environmental engineering, I gained profound knowledge in the technologies of air treatment, wastewater treatment, water treatment, waste management as well as noise protection. I would recommend this field to people who are not afraid of challenges, who are creative and who are mindful of environmental problems, which have become extremely important in recent years. I mean, for example, climate change or diminishing sources of natural resources.
Environmental issues have become so important to you that after graduating you chose to pursue a career in science. What issues did you devote your doctorate to?
During the preparation of my master's thesis, I decided to continue my research and to start doctoral studies at the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering. This is when my exciting adventure with science began and it continues till now. My PhD dissertation was about the removal of micropollutants from the aquatic environment. Since conventional wastewater treatment plants are not efficient in removing these pollutants, I used advanced oxidation and ozonation methods to degrade them.
After your doctorate in wastewater treatment, you took a job in a rather surprising place – at Textile Research Institute (IW). What do you do?
Yes, it’s true, it’s quite surprising. When I started working at Łukasiewicz - Textile Research Institute (IW), my knowledge of textiles was rudimentary. However, over time, when I started to learn about the phenomena and processes related to textiles, I found that they could be linked to environmental engineering, so I can confidently say that graduates of the Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering are ‘total engineers’, who can find work in various branches of industry. Łukasiewicz - Textile Research Institute (IW) is a scientific and research institution, part of Łukasiewicz Research Network. I am a researcher and I deal with research in the field of environmental engineering, in particular ozonation and advanced oxidation of organic compounds.
What does working for Łukasiewicz – Textile Research Institute (IW) give you?
Working at Łukasiewicz – Textile Research Institute (IW) has allowed me to broaden my knowledge and develop interdisciplinary research in the field of materials engineering, textile industry and environmental engineering. My work gives me the opportunity to combine scientific and professional development, which I appreciate. At Łukasiewicz Research Network, thanks to the challenge system, we have more contact with industry than at university, which in turn allows us to solve problems that entrepreneurs come to us with.
What are the solutions to improve water quality that your research leads to?
The development of modern analytical techniques allows us to detect increasingly low concentrations of pollutants in the aquatic environment. Thus, we can learn that various types of xenobiotics, such as hormone-mimicking agents, antibiotics or a wide range of analgesics and anti-inflammatory agents, which are not removed during conventional wastewater treatment processes, are present in surface water worldwide. Advanced oxidation techniques, for example, are proven to remove these types of micropollutants. Positive results of my research could be used in the future to develop technologies to remove these pollutants from the aquatic environment.
Interviewer: Dr Aleksandra Pawlik
Photos: Łukasiewicz Research Network
Łukasiewicz – Textile Research Institute (IW) has been implementing textile innovation projects for 75 years. It is a notified body in the field of personal protective equipment. It has accredited research laboratories, scientific facilities and a unit certifying products and services. As the only centre in Poland, it carries out the process of certification by OEKO-TEX®. Textile Research Institute (IW) has been part of Łukasiewicz Research Network since 2019.