ANDRZEJ CHOCHOL Honorary Doctor of KNUTE (2015) Rector of Cracow University of Economics (Cracow, Poland)

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А summary of professional accomplishments

personal interests and achievements in scientific, research, teaching and educational activities

Scientific activities

I started my scientific and research activities in May 1979 at the Foundry Institute – the Work Group for Special Surfaces and Enamelling headed by Prof. Jan Buciewicz. My subsequent scientific development was supervised by the Professor until I took my doctor’s degree in 1987. In 1982, I and Prof. Buciewicz were offered employment at the Academy of Economics, the Institute of Commodity Science, being part of the Industrial Commodity Science Department, which, already at that time, was actively engaged in research on  silicate surfaces.

During my scientific and research work at the Foundry Institute in 1979-1982, my interests focused on zirconium enamels as protective coatings for cast iron products. As a member of the team supervised by Prof. Buciewicz, I was mainly engaged in eliminating or reducing the use of raw materials used in the manufacture of zirconium enamels, which were imported from West European countries. As a result of the conducted analyses, we developed compositions of basic and cover enamels which contained only 6% of B₂O₃ (B₂O₃ is derived from borax imported from the US and Italy), i.e. 75% less as compared with its output value. For the theoretically designed and empirically verified enamel compositions we determined optimal parameters for glaze melting and burning of coatings, with consideration given to the quality of final products. This area of research also comprised formulating technological and production recommendations. The developed recipes and technological recommendations were patented – author’s certificate confirming an invention No. 199756 Warsaw 1986, patent No. 129879. Some of the obtained results were included in my paper presented at the 3^rd National Enamellers’ Congress in 1983. The overall results were applied by Iron Cast Foundries, and Enamelling Plant ”Kamienna” in Skarżysko Kamienna.

During my work at the Foundry Institute I was engaged in a series of research studies under supervision of dr Boniecki, which aimed at replacing imported enamel clays with domestic materials. My research in this area focused on identifying differences between imported and domestic clays in terms of their rheological properties. The results of the research studies were published in the form of a manuscript as well as included in the proceedings of the 15^th International Enamellers’ Congress in Prague in 1989.

Apart from research studies aimed at reducing the import of enamel materials, which led to measurable economic effects, I was engaged in developing special thermal cements used in the repair of iron castings, as well as enamel and phosphate coatings for iron casting supports, reducing the occurrence of blowholes. In 1980, I researched the causes of faults on enamel zirconium coatings used on cast iron products. The results of my research were used by the Foundry Materials Plant in Tychy, Pomorska Foundry and Enamel Plant in Grudziądz, and Kęty Foundries.

In the early 1980s I conducted research aimed to determine differences in the values of thermal expansion coefficient b100/20, calculated theoretically and measured empirically, for selected enamel glazes. These glazes were used as basic semi-products for the manufacture of enamel coatings for sanitary iron castings. The results of the analysis proved that alkaline oxides, fusible and volatile materials, volatilise partially in the process of fusion and homogenisation, resulting in changes to the physical properties of enamel coatings, which is reflected in experimentally measured values of coefficients b. The results of the analysis were published in a journal Szkło i Ceramika/Glass and Ceramics, and they are cited by Prof. Petzold A. and Pöschmann H. in one of the world’s most extensive works on enamelling, a book entitled  Email und Emaillier-technik. Deutscher Verlag für Grundstoffindustrie, Leipzig 1986, and in its second edition, Leipzig, Stuttgart 1992.

In 1984, I participated in a series of research studies aimed to develop enamel coatings for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Enamelled products for the needs of these industries, not available on the domestic market, were imported mainly from Germany (Bayer) and Hungary (Lampart). We succeeded in developing highly acid-resistant enamels, but due to the state budget financial restrictions enamel production facilities could not be constructed.

In the 1980s I was engaged in research coordinated by the Precision Mechanics Institute in Warsaw and the University of Science and Technology (AGH) in Krakow, aimed to find possible applications of ceramic coatings in various industries. The main result of the research study was the development of coloured enamels that can be used as architectural elements in the construction industry. The development of these enamels required a specific research approach – they had to be low weight elements, which prevented the use of steel sheets as base materials. Achieving a desirable level of quality in terms of aesthetic values, resistance to external conditions, and, in particular, adhesion to aluminum (in this particular case) required considerable changes to recipes and technologies.

The results of research conducted in this period were published in professional journals as well as Polish and foreign conference proceedings: Foundry Institute publications, Glass and Ceramics, The Scientific Papers of the Academy of Economics, and the proceedings of the International Enamellers’ Congress in Prague.

In the 1980s I conducted my own research studies aimed at improving the quality of titanium enamels used in cooking pots through changing the composition of the enamel mass (unlike the hitherto practice of changing the composition of and production technologies for enamel glazes). The application of such components of enamel masses as aerosil and related compounds led to considerable improvements in quality in terms of the chemical resistance  and  abrasion of enamels. These issues constituted the major area of my PhD thesis, which I defended in May 1987.

Also, the selected results of my research were included in a paper presented at the enameller’s congress.

In the 1980s I supervised two research projects commissioned by the Warehousing Management Institute in Poznań. The objective of the first project was to identify changes to enamelled products depending on warehousing methods, packaging and maintenance. The second project focused on the causes of enamel losses in a transport and warehousing chain. The results were presented in a manuscript and published.

During this period I also worked on other commodity science issues. As a project supervisor and co-author, I conducted research on the possible applications of abrasive grain – a useless product of mechanical working. In cooperation with my team, I developed a method for applying abrasive grain as a material for the manufacture of rubbers and abrasive powders. This method was applied by Rubber Plant “Stomil” in Krakow and ”Inco” in Krakow. This method is also significant from the perspective of the environment – abrasive grain as an effect of the technological process used to be sent to landfill.

In 1988 and 1989, I conducted research aimed to set standards for the wear and tear of enamelled household goods, presenting the results at the 5th Enamellers’ Congress.

In 1987-1989, I participated in a large Industry Research Project ”RPBP III. 41”, coordinated by Prof. Ignacy Duda of the Academy of Economics in Krakow, being mainly engaged in “programme 05”, which focused on methods for analysing enamelled products.

In the late 1980s I was engaged in research studies aimed at determining the properties of titanium, transparent and acid-resistant enamel coatings. I sought optimal quality measurement methods. Estimations are often based on the simulation of real processes, and they allow – on the basis of the determined degree of destruction – for assessing the quality of enamelled products. The diagnose of the actual destruction processes and the identification of their causes enabled me to verify methods for analysing acid resistance presented in literatures. I came to the conclusion that the use of some of the methods can lead to erroneous assessments of the quality of enamel. I also modified the applied methods for marking chemical resistance, which allowed for comparing results obtained by different research centres as well as for projecting the long-term quality of enamelled products. Some of the results of my research were published and presented at Polish conferences in Poznań, Ustroń Jaszowiec, as well as international conferences held in Kiev and Vienna. The overall results of my entire research work and the resulting cognitive and practical conclusions constituted a basis for my post-doctoral research thesis entitled An Analysis of the Destruction of Enamel Coatings and their Application in Assessing the Quality of Enamelled Products.

I defended my post-doctoral thesis at the Commodity Science Faculty of the Academy of Economics in Poznań on 11 June 1999. Having qualified for associate professor, I continued my analyses of the impact of various physical and chemical factors on the quality of enamelled products. The conducted analyses enabled me to determine the speed of corrosion processes at the particular product life cycle stages of enamelled products, which is of key significance from the economic perspective. Simultaneously, I made an attempt to determine (in terms of figures) the levels and classes of the quality of analysed products. Product assessments constitute a component of Quality Assurance Systems, hence my interest in this particular research area. In cooperation with dr Jolanta Wąs-Gubała of the Institute of Forensic Research, I developed a methodology for analysing a group of textile products in the region of Małopolska. Our research was based on Western publications. Research conducted in various countries is of key significance in terms of estimating the unqualified character of opinions for the needs of the judicial system. The results of our research were presented at the Second European Academy of Forensic Science Meeting, held in Krakow in September 2000, and the major achievements in this area were published in Germany by Bundeskryminalamt Wisbaden. In 2002, I wrote two chapters of the book entitled Forensic Research,  edited by Prof. Józef Wójcikiewicz of the Jagiellonian University, published by Zakamycze (the extended version republished in 2007). As an assistant professor, I was an active participant (papers and posters) of a number of international and Polish commodity science conferences including Poznań-Gdynia, Poland (IGWT, 1999), Kiev, Ukraine (KU H-E, 1999 and 2006), Krakow, Poland (AE, UJ, ENFSI, 2000, 2004 and 2014 ), Sassari, Italy (UDSDS, 2000), Warsaw, Poland (SGH, 2000), Warsaw, Poland (KIG, 2001), Maribor, Slovenia (IGWT, 2001), Radom, Poland (PR 2002, 2004), Poznań,  Poland, (AE 2002, 2005), Rome, Italy,  (EU 2002), Istanbul, Turcey,(2003), Beijing, China, (IGWT 2004), Stavern-Oslo, Norvay, (2005), Copenhagen, Danmark (2007), Suwan, Korea (2008), Bucharest, Romania (2010), Lausanne, Switzerland (2011), and Bled, Slovenia (2013).  

The results of my research presented in scientific papers and at conferences after the defense of my post-doctoral dissertation focused on changes to quality in the course of time. In particular, my research studies aimed to explain processes in external layers of enamel coatings subjected to simulation research. I attributed the complex mechanism of kinetics of changes to the physical and chemical properties of the compounds which constituted anti-corrosion layers.

I repeated tests for a number of times with the use of various surfaces and liquids with a view to an explicit confirmation of the empirically diagnosed mechanism. At that time I also published the selected results of my analyses of other industrial products, e.g. polymers and fibres, from the point of view of their quality.

Over the period of the last ten years, as a result of Poland’s admission to the EU, a number of legal regulations have changed, including those related to cosmetics. Therefore, as a staff member of the Industrial Commodity Science Department, I initiated and got engaged in the analyses of cosmetics. At first, I focused on legal regulations, and then on the analyses of various cosmetics including hair shampoos, emulsions and cosmetic creams, modern car cosmetics as well as cosmetics based on natural materials. My analyses focused on physical and chemical properties related to alignment, safety and biodegradation. The results of my research were presented at scientific conferences in Krakow, Poland (2006, 2014), Kiev, Ukraine (2006), Radom, Poland (2006, 2008, 2010), Poznań, Poland (2007, 2009, 2013), Warsaw, Poland (2007), Bucharest, Romania,  (2010) and Rome, Italy (2012).

Scientific experience gained in the course of analyses of industrial products, especially those related to micro structures, turned out to be very useful in forensic research. I qualified as an expert in the field, and since 1994, I have been a certified expert of the Forensic Research Institute in Krakow. I am author and co-author of more than 500 opinions issued for the needs of courts, prosecutor’s offices, police units, as well as those related to scientific publications. I participate in biannual tests organized by the American Forensic Testing Program in the area of the correctness and accuracy of analyses and selection of research methods. The correctness of all my tests was confirmed in 1996 by a diploma awarded by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors.

Until 2013, I was member of the International Working Group, operating within the framework of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI), participating in international conferences in Finland (1995), the Netherlands (1997), Sweden (1999), Germany (2001), Turkey (2003), Norway (2005), the Netherlands (2007), Switzerland (2011), as well as in the related meetings of working groups.

My publications until the defense of my post-doctoral thesis are as follows: 74 works, including 47 publications and 27 unpublished works.

After the defense of my post-doctoral thesis: 94 works, including 20 unpublished works.

In total: 168 works before and after the defense of the post-doctoral thesis (as in Table below).

To sum up, the results of my research have been presented at Polish and international conferences and symposia, and published by the following scientific journals: Ochrona przed Korozją/Protection Against Corrosion, Forum Ware, Academy of Economics Scientific Papers, Towaroznawcze Problemy Jakości/Commodity Science Quality Issues, Problemy Społeczne i Ekonomiczne/Social and Economic Problems, and Forensic Science International. I maintain regular contacts with a number of Polish and foreign scientific centres (ENFSI, IGWT – Internationale Gesellschaft für Warenwissenschaften und Technologie).
 

In 1999–2014, I supervised 11 research projects and participated in a number of similar undertakings. The cost of each project in which I acted as a leader amounted to several dozen thousand zlotys designed for the purchase of equipment and computer hardware for the needs of research. One of the leading areas of the research projects which I supervised related to an analysis of selected product requirements in the context of Polish and EU regulations. The results of these research studies are published.

Fellowships

I attended a 1-week programme at the Plechanov Institute in Moscow in 1989, and a two-month programme at Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA, in 1997. During my stay in the USA I visited production plants in the northern states of the US, giving special attention to quality assurance issues. I attended classes with students and participated in faculty meetings. I got acquainted with research laboratories and teaching methods. In 1993, I participated in a training course in Poland organized by Université des Sciences et Techniques de Lille. The 2-week course was conducted by the professors of Lille University. I was awarded a certificate of training “Gestion de Qualite”.

Teaching and educational activities

I undertook my teaching and educational activities in 1982. For a number of years, as a faculty member of Cracow University of Economics, I have conducted classes, lectures and seminars in industrial commodity science and quality of goods engineering for full-time and part-time students. In 1987 and 1988, and in 1992-1997, I acted as a tutor for ”dean’s groups”. In cooperation with other staff members of the Academy of Economics in Krakow, I provided guidance to students from Grand Valley State University (for two months in 1997). I delivered lectures for students of law of the Jagiellonian University, prosecutors and attorneys in the area of modern product analysis techniques that can be used in criminal research. I have supervised more than 1,000 diploma and master’s dissertations and reviewed a great number of degree theses. A student who wrote her dissertation under my supervision at the Faculty of Commodity Science of the Academy of Economics in Krakow in 1994 was a winner of dr Jan Zygmunt Robel Prize for the best diploma dissertation in forensic and related research.

Presently, I am supervising Mr Damian Dubis’s PhD dissertation on changes to the physical and chemical properties from the perspective of time function. The defense of the thesis is scheduled for the beginning of 2015. Up to now, I have supervised two PhD dissertations (dr Paweł Turek and dr Jerzy Szakiel).

Organizational work

For a number of times I have been member of the University and Faculty Election Commissions as well as the Faculty Scientific Development Commission, chairing this Commission in 2002-2009. Until 30 September 1996, I acted as the representative of PhD lecturers in the Commodity Science Council, and since September – in the Scientific Council of the Commodity Science Institute. Since 1999, I have been member of the Commodity Science Faculty Council, chairing the Council in 2002-2008. In 1994-1998, I was member of the Library Council of the Academy of Economics in Krakow, and in 1998-2002, I acted as vice president of the Academy’s Library Foundation Board. I also performed the function of a member of the University Commission for Student Social Affairs, a member of the University Disciplinary Commission for Teaching Staff, as well as a member of the Council of the Foreign Language Institute. In 2000 and 2001, I acted as chairman and vice-chairman of the Commodity Science Faculty Admissions Commission (the Commodity Science major programme), and in 2002-2008 – a member of the University Admissions Commission, chairing this Commission in 2008-2012. In September 2000, I was member of the organizing committee of the Second European Academy of Forensic Science Meeting, hosted by the Forensic Research Institute, held on the campus of the Academy of Economics in Krakow. I have been member a number of the Organizing and Scientific Committees of international conferences hosted by IGWT, PAN (the Polish Academy of Sciences), and Radom Politechnical University. During those conferences I chaired a number of plenary sessions. I am member of the Polish Foundry Technical Association and the Polish Commodity Science Society. I have been awarded the title of Expert by both organizations. I acted as Treasurer of the Polish Commodity Science Society Board, and in 1994-1998, its Secretary. Also, I was member of the Scientific Council of the Polish Commodity Science Society. In 1998-2001, I acted as president of the Krakow Branch of the Society, member of its Board, and in 2002, I was elected President of the Board of the Polish Commodity Science Society. Since 2000, I have been member of the Commodity Science Section – Quality Sciences of the Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

In 2004, at a IGWT conference (Internationale Gesellschaft für Warenwissenschaften und Technologie – the Commodity Science and Technology Society) in China I was elected vice president of the Society (until 2008). At a IGWT conference held in Rome I was re-elected vice president, and in 2014 – president (IGWT is headquartered in Vienna).

In 2002, after being awarded the title of associate professor at the Academy of Economics, I was elected Dean of the Commodity Science Faculty of the Academy as well as member of the Senate and the Rector’s Council of the Academy. My organizational efforts at that time focused on establishing the Applied Economics Department as part of the Faculty, which was aimed to broaden the range of educational activities. I launched a new major programme (Product Manager) and re-established a scientific laboratory, providing it with state-of-the-art equipment (a chromatograph and IR spectrometer). I was appointed member of the Senate Commission for Faculty Scientific Development, and chairman of the Faculty HR Commission as well as of a number of other Faculty units. In 2005, I was re-elected Dean of Faculty and chairman of the above commissions. I supervised preparation of the Report on Faculty Activities (several hundred pages in length), which was a basis for applying for accreditation from EPOQS for the Commodity Science major programme. At that time I also launched a new study programme: Management and Production Engineering.

In 2008, I was elected vice rector of Cracow University of Economics, and I performed this function until 2012. In the same year I was elected rector of the University. Cracow University of Economics is one of the largest universities of economics in Poland with approx. 20,000 students and 1,400 employees. As vice rector, I was mainly engaged in student educational issues as well as the introduction of the new Act on higher education and the National Qualification Framework. As the University’s rector, I am in charge of its overall activities. During my term of office new study programmes were launched including Law and new programmes held in English, contributing to the international character of university activities. I have signed a number of agreements with foreign universities. Presently, the University is engaged in cooperation with approx. 200 higher education institutions worldwide.

Over the last years I have reviewed a number of scientific papers, including a post-doctoral dissertation and a summary of scientific accomplishments.

In 2015 I received the Honoris Causa Doctorate from the University of Economics in Bratislava.

I have been awarded several Rector’s Prizes for scientific and research achievements (Rector’s Prize First Class in 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, and Rector’s Prize Second Class in 2001). In 1995, I was awarded a medal commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Commodity Science Institute of the Academy of Economics in Krakow in recognition of “Outstanding Contribution to its Development”. In 2000 and 2005, the University Board awarded me with medals commemorating the 75th, 80th and 90th Anniversaries of the Academy of Economics. In 2000, I received the Gold Cross of Merit from the President of the Republic of Poland and in 2004 I was awarded the Medal of the National Education Commission.

In 2015 I was awarded the Gold Badge of Honour of the Malopolska Region - Cross Malopolska.

List of publications.