Works are carried out on the topics submitted to this year's Team Projects Conference. Students of our Faculty and of the W12 Faculty are preparing such projects as an intelligent blind stick and a camera for detecting falls.

The Team Projects Conference is an initiative in which representatives of companies representing various fields and branches of economy propose topics and students carry them out in close cooperation with the companies. It is also one of the elements required for completing their third year of studies.

Until now, the conference was held at the Faculty of Electronics, but after some modifications to the organizational structure of the University, the project formula also changed. At present, the topics proposed by companies are addressed by students from the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology and from the Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems.

– Our initiative allows companies to get in touch with students, so that they can get a preview of what work is like in such companies. It is also a chance for our employees to establish contacts with the industry, so that in the future they can launch joint research and development projects – says Maciej Nikodem, Ph.D. from the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, organizer of the Team Projects Conference.

15 weeks of work

The topics are always proposed in the winter semester and they are later carried out for 15 weeks of the summer semester. One topic typically involves a group of 4-5 students, in cooperation with companies.

This year a total of almost 100 projects were submitted from more than 30 companies. They involved for example software allowing optical inspection of electronic devices, NeuroBike FLOW – the Wrocław Bike FlowMeter, an algorithm for automatic adjustment of beer froth height in the glass or an application for mobile home management.

– In recent years, the companies have remained highly interested in the project. This interest is mainly due to the situation in the job market and to a great demand for specialists in IT, automation, robotics and electronics. Very often, third year students already work or will start work soon. Companies are aware of that and see the project as a job recruitment form – explains Maciej Nikodem, Ph.D.

It is worth adding that engineering students are obliged to have an internship, and most of them do it after their third year – usually during the summer holidays. The implementation of a team project is a great chance to find a company which offers such an internship.

Cooperation is key

The proposed topics should be consistent with the study programmes, but during the project the emphasis is primarily on teamwork.

– Future engineers must learn to use project management tools, plan activities, share tasks. They should also acquire soft skills. This is how companies work nowadays. Obviously, the end result is important, but the process itself and the manner of project implementation also matter – emphasizes Maciej Nikodem, Ph.D.

The most advanced projects will be on display on June 27 during the final session of the Team Project Conference, which will be held in building H-14. The students will have to, inter alia, present their idea and demonstrate how it works.

In recent years, the prizes were awarded for a device monitoring the braking efficiency of a mountain bike, an intelligent research container for an unmanned flying system or a pest control station with an IoT sensor detecting rodent activity.

– One of my favourite projects was one commissioned by the musician Maciej Markowski, which concerned an artistic installation of a tomato planted upside down. The challenge was accepted by very ambitious students who, after one semester of work, demonstrated an appropriate structure with an irrigation system. Of course, they won the entire competition, and their work, after appropriate modifications, could then be viewed at the WRO Art Biennial and at the Goethe Institute in Warsaw, adds Maciej Nikodem, Ph.D.

This year's edition is sponsored by NOKIA, PLume, Thaumatec, iteratec and Comarch.