The question of what should an engineer be like, encouragement to look for and develop passions, as well as a story about the influence of the IT industry on the Polish language are the main topics addressed during the inauguration ceremony of the academic year at the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology.The question of what should an engineer be like, encouragement to look for and develop passions, as well as a story about the influence of the IT industry on the Polish language are the main topics addressed during the inauguration ceremony of the academic year at the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology.

The ceremony was opened by Prof. Andrzej Kucharski, the dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology. In his inaugural speech, he welcomed new students. He wished them that in three and a half years they would be convinced – as he himself is now – that they chose the right field and place of study. Then he asked all the listeners a question in Polish: Should an engineer be “spolegliwy”?

– Of course, the question was tricky, because the word has two meanings in Polish – explained the dean. – Most of us think that „spolegliwy” means „compliant”. This is the colloquial meaning of this word. The original meaning, defined in the 1950s by the philosopher Prof. Tadeusz Kotarbiński, meant: a trustworthy, reliable and responsible person. I would really like you to be „spolegliwi” in this original sense, that you would be engineers that our society can rely on.

Oath and awards

After the opening speech, first-year students took the oath. On behalf of the entire first year, representatives of individual fields took a solemn oath:

• Grzegorz Jagielski – Cybersecurity
• Rafał Włodarczyk – Algorithmic Computer Science
• Filip Andrasz – Applied Computer Science in Polish
• Tomasz Ciepliński – Applied Computer Science in English
• Michał Sroka – Systems Engineering
• Marcin Malczewski – IT in Automation Systems
• Nina Masek – Technical Computer Science
• Maciej Kanar – ICT
• Julia Staniecka – Telecommunications.

Then, the Dean's Awards were presented for commitment and contribution to the development of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology in the academic year 2022/2023, which went to:

• Bartłomiej Baut – Cybersecurity, 1st degree studies,
• Maciej Czech – Cybersecurity, 1st degree studies,
• Maria Fabijan – Systems Engineering, 1st degree studies,
• Michał Gibas – Technical Computer Science, 1st degree studies,
• Adrian Goral – IT in Automation Systems, 1st degree studies,
• Maja Kałuzińska – Systems Engineering, 1st degree studies.
• Małgorzata Lewandowska – Cybersecurity, 1st degree studies.
• Jakub Piotrowski – Systems Engineering, 1st degree studies,
• Tomasz Zawadzki – Technical Computer Science, 2nd degree studies.

Zuzanna Jasińska, a student of technical computer science and gold medallist of the University Games in Changdu, also received flowers and a diploma in recognition of her sports successes.

Prof. Paweł Wachel, vice-dean for student affairs, provided the most important organizational information about studying at the Faculty and the about the support possibilities that our Faculty offers to students. He also encouraged the students to find and develop their passions.

Then Monika Sochacka, a representative of the City Hall, read a letter with wishes from Jacek Sutryk, the mayor of Wrocław.

Give up the survival instinct

Students also had the opportunity to learn about the BioMedical AI Student Research Club, presented by Mateusz Grzesiuk, its president. He described what the group does and encouraged students to join it.

– At some point, you should try to give up on your survival instinct for a moment (I know how it sounds) and take a leap in the dark – said Mateusz Grzesiuk to his younger colleagues. “For the first two years, we were in the dark about what we were doing. Then we realized that if we want to do something new that has real value, we have no choice but to try to do things that seem impossible to us. I wish you to abandon fear and dare to do something big.

It's worth it to be active

The first-year students were also welcomed by Piotr Kozarzewski, chairman of the Faculty Student Government, who explained what self-government at the Faculty is, what activities this organization takes part in and encouraged students to join it.

– I came here with one slogan: It is worth it to be active! – said the president the Faculty Student Government. “Learning is only part of studying. Wrocław University of Science and Technology offers you a number of opportunities: job fairs, many research clubs and student government. Here you can gain a lot of new skills, experiences and, above all, valuable contacts. A year ago, when I joined the student government, I didn't even think that I would be speaking here today and presenting the activities of such a great group of people, and a group of friends – which the student government has become to me. That's why I encourage you to take action.

Adaptation, translation, innovation

The key speech was undoubtedly the opening lecture entitled  It works for me, or about the relationship between language and technology and borrowings from the field of IT – delivered by Prof. Tomasz Piekot from the University of Wrocław, a linguist, the creator and head of the Simple Polish Workshop.

– You are facing a great challenge – as information experts, you will have the important task of introducing new words into the Polish language, but also of Polonizing loanwords – said Prof. Tomasz Piekot.

He humorously spoke among others about the process of introducing new terms into the Polish language from other languages. They may become permanent in our language as a result of adaptation, translation or innovation, i.e. Polonization. Example?

– The word e-mail has been present in Polish for about 32 years. So it's time for us to decide how to write this word bestsaid the linguist. –The winner is adaptation, i.e. minor simplification so that the word inflects correctly in Polish. Poles noticed that the letter e at the beginning is not needed. (…) Today, after 32 years, linguists agree that the version „mejl” is correct in Polish. It's Polish language users who chose this mode. However, they could have chosen another. For example, translation. Since e-mail is an electronic letter, we could have chosen the beautiful word ‘listel’. This word was invented by a resident of Warsaw and won the ‘Polonize it yourself’ competition. (…) I still use the word ‘listel’ when writing longer e-mails, starting with the words: His Magnificence... The word ‘listel’ was, of course, created contrary to the rules of Polish grammar, but it is beautiful nonetheless. However, it did not enter the Polish language. There was also an innovation in the ‘Spolszcz to sam’ competition. Someone suggested ‘epesza’, from Polish ‘depesza’ (i.e. electronic message).

Prof. Tomasz Piekot also talked about how the IT industry helps linguists and how linguists help the IT industry.