In November last year, we wrote that work had begun on the “Expansion and modernization of educational infrastructure” and “Development of the infrastructure of educational institutions” projects (as part of the Regional Operational Programme of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship 2007–2013).
In autumn last year, equipment worth approximately PLN 2 million was delivered to the School Complex of Mechanical Engineering in Bolesławiec. “Our mechatronics laboratory was already equipped with equipment worth approximately EUR 100,000,” Adam Maksymczyk, head of the “mechanics” school, told us at the time. “Now we have received the latest-generation equipment on which our students will learn mechatronics. Specialists in this profession are in high demand both in Poland and around the world.”
The second stage of equipping ZSM began in winter 2013. The school received, among other things, two numerically controlled machine tools and seven training units for learning how to program CNC machine tools. Moreover, the production processes laboratory was also joined by a workshop measurement laboratory equipped with a tensile tester and devices for measuring material formability, roughness and hardness.
The future automotive mechanics were not forgotten either. Diagnostic equipment and... two new Škoda Octavias were delivered to the institution—one with a petrol engine and the other with a diesel engine.
What is more, the Bolesławiec “mechanics” school received six working combustion engines of various types. This will allow ZSM students to diagnose functioning engines. Non-functioning engines will also be delivered soon; during classes, students will have the opportunity to learn their construction in detail by dismantling and assembling them.
A welding laboratory will also be opened. “A new welding shop, equipped with 10 welding tables at which our students and course participants will be able to practise independently and later take exams, will be one of the departments of the School Workshops of the School Complex of Mechanical Engineering,” says Piotr Rewiński, head of the School Workshops. “We conduct courses under the patronage of the Institute of Welding in Gliwice, which examines our course participants and certifies their examination results. The ‘mechanics’ school has always been one of the best centres training welders in our region.”
Ultimately, the institution will receive equipment worth PLN 5 million (equipment worth approximately PLN 3 million has already been delivered). The School Workshops are scheduled to open at the turn of March and April this year. Nevertheless, practical classes are taking place continuously, including in halls made available to the “mechanics” school by PKS Bolesławiec.
ZSM trains students in established professions: automotive vehicle technician, mechatronics technician, mechanic and miner. Moreover, thanks to the County’s investments in vocational education, new opportunities are opening up for students and, in the longer term, a stable future. “Most companies in the nearby economic zones primarily employ skilled workers whom we train at ZSM,” emphasizes teacher Piotr Księżyk. “The ‘mechanics’ school means established professions, new opportunities and a stable future.”
(information: ZSM Bolesławiec/ii)