Dr. Michał Panek, a graduate of the Doctoral School of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, currently employed at Nokia, was honoured with the main prize of this year's edition of the “Lower Silesian Gryphon – Economic Award”. He was recognized in the Academic Gryphon category, which since this year has been awarded to the most talented young scientists. Congratulations!

The “Lower Silesian Gryphon – Economic Award” is a competition that has been held since 2004, with the aim of showcasing, promoting, and integrating the regional economy and business.

This year, during the Great Business Gala held at Wrocław Airport, awards were presented in eight categories, including for the first time the Academic Gryphon category. It recognises the most talented young scientists for their creative potential and contribution to the advancement of science.

The first recipient of the award was Dr. Michał Panek, a graduate of the Doctoral School of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, a researcher in the field of machine learning, specialising in the automation and optimisation of modern telecommunication networks.

Innovations for 5G networks in collaboration with Nokia

Dr. Michał Panek is employed at the Wrocław branch of Nokia, and for four years he combined this work with studies at the Doctoral School of Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

He earned his doctorate in the discipline of technical computer science and telecommunications in 2025 for his dissertation “Machine Learning-Based Performance Analysis Aimed at Increasing the Degree of Automation of Wireless Networks,” which he defended with honours.

His supervisors were Prof. Michał Woźniak from the Department of Systems and Computer Networks and Prof. Ireneusz Jabłoński from Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg.

Dr. Panek’s research project, carried out in collaboration with Nokia as an implementation doctorate, focused on automating the 5G network performance assessment process.

– Assessing the impact of changes introduced by operators, such as software updates, new functionalities or configuration changes, is costly and time-consuming. The challenge lies in the fact that dynamically changing conditions, such as weather or user behaviour, can lead to incorrect conclusions – says Dr. Michał Panek.

The award recipient developed a more precise performance assessment method, which allows the impact of external factors to be separated and enables an individual view of specific network elements.

– I examined a range of machine learning algorithms, including artificial neural networks, and compared my method with the commonly used baseline method,” explains Dr. Michał Panek. – “To my best knowledge, this is the first proposed approach to modelling cellular network performance that utilises combined data on network configuration and environmental factors – adds the 2025 Academic Gryphon laureate.

Global reach

The doctoral research was conducted in collaboration with the Wrocław branch of Nokia. The method developed by Dr. Panek has contributed to the automation of the network change assessment process, enabling faster implementation of new products and services.

– For the residents of Lower Silesia, this means faster access to modern, more stable telecommunication services – says Dr. Michał Panek.

These results also form the basis for other innovative projects, including a novel method for detecting faulty cellular network components, for which a patent application has already been filed (e.g. in the USA).

Dr. Michał Panek continues to work actively towards the development of collaboration between science and business. In cooperation with Wrocław University of Science and Technology, he is involved, among others, in projects co-financed by the National Centre for Research and Development.