DAY 3: STP Congress of Polish Engineers in UK 2021

Change is the only constant in our dynamic world.

When the Association of Polish Engineers in Great Britain (STP) was established during WWII, its primary goal was to support the war effort, but it had to evolve to help its members adapt to a new reality. When it was expected to slowly decay at the turn of the century, a new wave of migration has arrived and injected fresh life into the organisation. Now, we are again entering a new era that presents both challenges and opportunities.

The Programme

The Congress will take place over three days. We will start on Thursday with online content, then meet at the Polish Embassy for a formal evening reception. The event will conclude with an informal Saturday lunch in one of London’s landmarks.

Thursday 28.10.21

12:00 -13:00 Panel Discussion #1: Making sense of it all. How to gain insight from data?

Data is often referred to as the oil of 21st century. Already, governments and companies are increasingly relying on data to make decisions that affect all our lives. Everyone has experienced this to some extent when we were tracking daily infection rates of COVID-19 during the outbreak of the pandemic.

How to take advantage of data? What data should we collect and what is useless noise? How can we avoid risks arising from data bias and how we can interpret the flood of information that surrounds us? These are some of the questions addressed by our panellists.

Panelists:

• Michalis Michael, CEO at DMR, a tech company in AI Driven Insight
• Aleksandra Przegalińska, Vice Rector at Kozminski University and AIER Research Fellow
• Balazs Haraszti, Digital Integration Lead at Skanska
• Moderator: Agnieszka Knoppik-Jędrzejewska, Assistant Professor at Department of Structural Engineering, Silesian University of Technology

18:30 -19:30 Panel discussion #2: Engineering over Borders

Borders can have different meanings. They often refer to physical boundaries between countries or technological barriers. They can however have a more subtle meaning, referring to language, cultural and societal boundaries.

As Engineers working in foreign countries, we often must cross those boundaries, so in this panel we will invite our special guests to share their experiences of engineering over borders. We will discuss the challenges and opportunities that arise from working in a diverse environment and how we can create cultures where everyone can thrive.

Panelists

• Agnieszka Szymczyk, Associate at Buro Happold
• Rafael Delimata, Director of a construction company which specialises in technically challenging low energy projects
• Marcin Silinski, Director at Loop Engineering
• Teresa Borsuk, Senior Partner at Pollard Thomas Edwards
• Moderator: Tomasz Dyl, Founder of GottaBe!

Friday 29.10.21

• 18:00 Registration
• 19:00 Welcome
• 19:10 '80 Years of STP'. Our mission and how it evolved during the 80 years of STP.
• 19:30 Unleash Potential. Polish Women in STEM Report. Presentation of the main conclusions of the report on Polish women working in STEM in the UK.
• 19:45 Awards
• 20:00 Music Performance
• 20:15 Drinks and Canapes Networking
• 22:00 Close

Saturday 30.10.21

12:15 -14:45 Informal lunch at Darwin Brasserie with access to SkyGarden