Warsaw University of Technology

1826–1831

The origins of Polish universities of technology go back to the 18th century. They were related to either military technology or mining. For example, the extraction of coal requires complex technological processes to exploit deeper seams.

The model school of technology, a university of technology, was designed by the French, who in 1794 founded the Ecole polytechnique in Paris. At the beginning of the 19th century, technical universities were established in Prague (in 1806), Vienna (1815), and Karlsruhe (1824).

In Poland, the first multidisciplinary university of technology was the Preparatory School for the Institute of Technology, which opened on 4 January 1826. The Warsaw University of Technology still cultivates its traditions. The person who played the most important part in creating the school and writing its charter was Stanisław Staszic. Kajetan Garbiński, a mathematician and professor at Warsaw University, became the director. The school was based at the University of Warsaw, and its ceremonial inauguration took place there on January 4, 1826, in the Casimir Palace. Initially, it offered two courses: an introductory one and an advanced one. The school was closed in 1831, after the November Insurrection.

1898–1914

In 1898, the Technological Section of the Warsaw Society for Russian Commerce and Industry, under the direction of engineer Kazimierz Obrębowicz, raised one million rubles to establish the Emperor Nicolas II Polytechnic Institute. Classes, with Russian as the language of instruction, started on 5 September in the building at 81 Marszałkowska Street. They were soon moved to new buildings, built especially for the Institute. Bronisław Rogóyski and Stefan Szyller designed them. The City Administration donated a site of approximately 7 hectares—formerly occupied by the 1896 Hygiene Exhibition and located at the intersection of Polna and Nowowiejska Streets—for the construction of the Institute's headquarters.

In 1905, the Institute’s operations were suspended indefinitely due to student protests demanding the overthrow of the tsarist regime and the adoption of Polish as the medium of instruction. It reopened in the autumn of 1908, retaining Russian as the medium of instruction. At the same time, Włodzimierz Amalicki was appointed to replace the dismissed director of the Institute, Aleksander Lagioro, and was given the title of rector.

On the day of its opening, the university had three faculties: Mathematics, Chemistry, as well as Engineering and Construction. In June 1902, the Faculty of Mining was opened. Poles constituted the majority of students until 1905, when their number reached 1,100.

During World War I, amidst the mass exodus of the population, and acting on the orders of Rector Włodzimierz Amalicki, the Institute—along with its equipment and academic staff—was evacuated in June 1915 to the interior of the Russian Empire. It was moved first to Moscow, then to Rostov-on-Don, and finally to Nizhny Novgorod, where the majority of the Institute's personnel and movable assets arrived. This enabled the establishment of a polytechnic institute in that city. On June 17, 1917, the Russian Provisional Government issued a decree closing the Polytechnic Institute.

1915–1939

After German troops entered Warsaw on 5 August 1915, they sought to gain the sympathy of Poles. They allowed the University of Warsaw and the Warsaw University of Technology to open with Polish as the language of instruction. The grand opening of both universities was held on 15 November 1915. Zygmunt Straszewicz was the first rector of the Warsaw University of Technology. World War I, along with the events surrounding the restoration of the Polish State and the Polish-Bolshevik war, did not aid the school's development. Daily lectures finally started in November 1920. The school included the faculties of Mechanics, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Architecture, Civil Engineering, Aquatic Engineering, and Geodesy (Measurment since 1925). The last three faculties were merged under the new Academic Schools Law of 13 March 1933. The Polish Cabinet issued a decree on 25 September 1933 establishing the new Faculty of Engineering.

The number of students at the Warsaw University of Technology over the twenty years between the wars grew from 2,540 in the 1918/1919 academic year to 4,673 just before the outbreak of World War II. In the same period, the school granted more than 6,200 diplomas, including 320 for women. The Warsaw University of Technology became the most important engineering research center in Poland and gained international prestige. At that time, 66 graduates earned Doctor of Philosophy degrees, degrees, and 50 qualified for assistant professor positions. The university was a centre of scientific research for people whose achievements were fundamental to world science and technology, including Karol Adamiecki, Stefan Bryła, Jan Czochralski, Tytus Maksymilian Huber, Janusz Groszkowski, Mieczysław Wolfke, and others.

1939–1945

During World War II, despite enormous material losses and repressive measures, the Warsaw University of Technology continued to operate underground. Teaching continued in clandestine and open courses, in vocational schools, and from 1942, in a two-year State Higher Technical School. Approximately 3,000 students participated in the clandestine courses, and 198 earned engineering diplomas. Scientific research was conducted, as 20 PhD and 14 assistant-professorship qualifying theses were written. Considerable work was devoted to the reconstruction of Poland after the war and constitutes the foundation for the development of science. Students and professors secretly worked on projects. Professors Janusz Groszkowski, Marceli Struszyński, and Józef Zawadzki conducted a detailed analysis of the radio and steering devices of the German V-2 rockets at the request of Polish Home Army Intelligence.

On the first day of the Warsaw Uprising, August 1, 1944, the university grounds were seized by insurgents from the "Golski" Battalion. The Germans launched unsuccessful attacks on Polish positions on August 3, 5, and 15. A full-scale assault on the University of Technology took place from several directions on August 19. After fierce fighting, the Poles were forced to retreat through a tunnel to the other side of Noakowski Street, which served as the frontline until the Uprising's capitulation. The insurgents also held the Faculty of Architecture building, which housed the "Golski" Battalion command and an insurgent hospital until the end of the Uprising.

1945–present

After German troops were dislodged from Warsaw, classes started in improvised conditions on 22 January 1945. By the end of the year, all the pre-war faculties were reopened. Old, war-damaged buildings were quickly rebuilt; new ones were erected. In 1951, the Warsaw University of Technology incorporated the Wawelberg and Rotwand School of Engineering.

The Academic and Research Centre in Płock was created in 1967.

In 1945, there were 2,148 students in six faculties (divisions). By 1999, there were 22,000 students enrolled in 16 faculties. The Warsaw University of Technology awarded over 104,000 Bachelor of Science and Master of Science engineer degrees between the years 1945 and 1998.

The university serves as an important scientific center, educating academic staff for its own purposes and for other Polish schools of technology. Between 1945 and 1998, 5,500 PhD theses were written. Almost 1,100 qualified for assistant professorships. The number of academic staff grew significantly. In 1938, the university had 98 tenured professors and associate professors, as well as 307 assistant professors and teaching assistants; in 1948, there were 87 tenured professors and 471 associate professors, as well as 307 assistant professors and teaching assistants; while in 1999, there were 371 professors, 1,028 tutors, 512 lecturers, and 341 teaching assistants.

Transport

The transport faculty is engaged in research into the development of railway variable gauge axles which help overcome breaks of gauge, such as the SUW 2000 system and INTERGAUGE.