2008-11-06 - The first scholarships under the ABB Jürgen Dormann Foundation for Engineering Education have been won by engineering students in Poland.
By
Group Function Sustainability
Three Polish students at different faculties of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow won scholarships in 2008, and have just had them renewed for another year. The scholarships are given to talented students who need financial support to enable them to study.
They are the first of dozens of scholarships due to be granted in different countries in the coming months. The foundation is close to finalizing agreements with universities in China and India, and they will be followed by Brazil and other countries to be selected at a later stage.
“It is very good to see these talented and hard-working young people having the opportunity to study and develop their potential,” Gary Steel, chairman of the foundation’s board, told senior university officials at a meeting in Krakow. “The success we are seeing in establishing this program in Poland is a blueprint for the foundation in other countries.”
New opportunities
In addition to their scholarships, the students have local ABB mentors, the opportunity for holiday internships at ABB, and those that are successful will be invited to attend regional and international events, hosted by ABB.
|
The three students, Kamila Biernacka, Marcin Okarma and Pawel Bajerski sign their contracts.
Kamila Biernacka, a physics student at the AGH Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science said: “In Poland it’s difficult for physicists to develop and find work. These studies present a good opportunity to develop and open the door to job opportunities. After completing my studies, I would ideally like to work as a physicist at a laboratory in Switzerland or Germany.”
Marcin Okarma, a second year student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Electronics, said the scholarship was “especially important because my material situation is not so good, and this has been a great help. I now have a better chance for the future.”
The third scholarship winner, Pawel Bajerski, who is at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics added: “I have got to know a lot more about ABB and this scholarship may open some doors in the future for a good job.” He sees ABB as a good opportunity to deepen his interest in developing automation programming.
Close university links
The ABB Jürgen Dormann Foundation for Engineering Education, endowed with total funding of 20 million Swiss francs, was set up to honor the achievements of the former ABB chairman and CEO who left the company in 2007.
The foundation financially supports talented students of limited means to pursue their studies for a maximum of five years. The performance of each participating student is assessed annually by the universities and ABB.
|
Professor Antoni Tajduś (left), AGH University Rector and Gary Steel exchange a new contract.
ABB has a 10-year history of close links with AGH University. One in five people working at the ABB Research and Development facility in Krakow comes from the university, and many other graduates work with the Power Products division in the city.
At the meeting with AGH, Gary Steel said the relationship with the university could be further developed. “We can strengthen and modernize our current agreement, to build a strategic partnership. And we should examine ways of extending our collaboration on engineering issues.” This, he said, could include having ABB engineering experts as guest lecturers, and the use of ABB engineering equipment.
Jerzy Lis, AGH Deputy Rector for Cooperation and Development, paid tribute to the importance of the relationship with ABB. “We want to be partners with the big players in the market and ABB is one of them. It is important for us to collaborate with a company with a wide range of capabilities as this offers a wide range of opportunities for students from different faculties.
“Having the big companies here in Poland also sends a strong signal to the students. If they were thinking of going abroad before, they can certainly have very professional careers here as well.”