Medals, awards and distinctions for scientists of the Rzeszów University of Technology
In the headquarters of the Podkarpackie Innovation Centre, scientists from the Rzeszów University of Technology received medals and awards given during thehe International Invention and Innovation Show INTARG in Katowice. Minister of Education and Science distictions were awarded as well as the title of Innovation Leader, which went to the Podkarpackie Innovation Centre. The university authorities were represented at the event by the Vice-Rector for Science Lesław Gniewek, PhD, DSc, Eng., Associate Prof.
The PRO SOCIETAS BONO Diamond Award was granted for the "Computer programme for detecting and assessing speech disorders in Parkinson's disease" by Barbara Wilk, PhD, Eng., Małgorzata Augustyn, MSc., Eng. and Anna Szlachta, PhD, Eng., from the Department of Metrology and Diagnostic Systems of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Ewa Nowak, MSc. The programme enables an objective evaluation of speech disorders on the basis of an analysis of the speech signal recorded during a speech therapy examination using a microphone. It determines various parameters in the time, frequency and time-frequency domain, which can be used in medical diagnostics to objectively assess the process of phonation, articulation and prosody and to detect voice tremor characteristic of Parkinson's disease.
Jerzy Szyszka, PhD, Eng. from the Department of Building Engineering of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture has been awarded the gold medal and the "Award of The First Institute Researchers and Inventors (I.R.I.)" for the project "Interactive solar active wall – ISAS". The invention fits into the strategy of intelligent and environmentally friendly construction. It makes it possible to recover heat from solar radiation, reducing the consumption of conventional energy needed to heat buildings. An interactive, simple to build, maintenance-free wall, it automatically responds by changing its thermal resistance to insolation. The interactive solar activated thermal insulating wall with heating function (ISAS) is a type of partition that can be widely used in residential public or industrial buildings.
The silver medal was awarded to the team from the Road and Bridge Department of the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture consisting of Mateusz Szarata, PhD., Eng., (team leader), Lesław Bichajło, PhD, Eng., and Kamil Kowalski, MSc., Eng. for the project entitled "Monitoring passenger streams in public transport". The new solution is an example of application of modern IT technology in planning and management of transport systems. It allows monitoring of passenger streams in public transport based on data emitted by personal devices. One of the most important results of the work with the use of modern IT technology is the knowledge of the communication behaviour of public transport users.
The silver medal was also awarded to Mariusz Oszust, PhD, Eng., Associate Prof., from the Department of Computer and Control Engineering at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering for the project entitled "Software for evaluating the quality of magnetic resonance images". The software can support radiology technicians, enabling them to shorten examination times. It allows to measure the quality of registered images in a way correlated with the average quality assessment of a large group of radiologists. The quality measurement will allow rejection of poor quality scans, suggest better scanner parameters and possibly automatic scanner operation.
The bronze medal was awarded to Krzysztof Tereszkiewicz, PhD, DSc., Eng., Associate Prof. from the Department of Department of Computer Engineering in Management at the Faculty of Management for his research project entitled "The application of surface luminance distribution analysis in the measurement of fat content in meat". This solution has already received patent protection for the invention called "Apparatus for measuring intramuscular fat content in meat, especially pork or beef". The project has attracted a lot of interest from the economic sector and has resulted in implementation work in cooperation with a national leader in the manufacture of industrial optical devices. This cooperation may – in addition to scientific – also bring a market success for the device in the near future.
The distinction of the Minister of Education and Science was also awarded to Piotr Jankowski-Mikułowicz, PhD, DSc., Eng. from the Department of Electronic and Telecommunications Systems at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science for the invention "System and method of electronic monitoring of the fuel filling process with the use of RFID technology", allowing the electronic monitoring of fuel filling with the use of radio object identification. The essence of this solution is to provide electronic marking of the tank, which will be filled in an automated way. It is assumed that this process will be carried out on the basis of two factors. The first relates to the identification of the tank by the fuel dispenser, which will ensure that only authorised machines and vehicles are refuelled. The second factor relates to how the filling gun is placed in the tank, which in turn will provide protection against fuel theft/loss and the danger of fuel spillage or vapour explosion. The idea was conditioned by a multi-criteria analysis of market needs. One could mention the need to monitor and safely refuel marked and correctly identified vehicles and machines of common use, as well as those located in inaccessible mining or agricultural areas. It is also important to monitor fuel consumption by selected vehicles for specialised industry records.
