Electrical and Mechanical Engineering:
Studies within the scope of electrical and mechanical engineering constitute a research area of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Electronics, and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics.
Using energy involves transmission of a large number of signals which carry various information connected with nearly all fields of human activity. All electrical devices, transmission and data processing systems need to be designed and used in such a way that they do not interfere with one another. Research into the compatibility of electrical systems is one of the subject areas at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Electronics. An important issue of the above process is the analysis of the security of data transfer and the protection of communication in control networks.
Electrical energy diminishes under the influence of electromagnetic disturbance. This phenomenon generates large costs both on a micro scale - as in the case of households, as well as on a macro scale - as in the case of country budgets, slowing down their development. Among others, research conducted in this field encompasses the identification of threats as a result of the analysis of interactions between disturbing electrical devices and mains power systems. Analysis is carried out into the hazards and disturbance states in electromagnetic systems. Research is conducted into the electromagnetic fields created by power engineering objects, and their influence on the environment is assessed. The condition of power engineering systems is also monitored be means of conventional and modern recorders, which identify the reasons of power quality degradation. Research conducted into the improvement of energy quality allows to build electrical devices which are "friendly" to the mains power system, and ones which are capable of improving its quality (electronic and power electronic circuits). These devices, apart from having more and more complex practical applications, should guarantee functional safety, working in the environment equipped with suitable systems of surge protection, lightning arresters, and others. Another category of this research subject area is highvoltage engineering, as well as the testing, measurements and diagnostics of power engineering machinery and electrical devices.
One of the increasingly important research areas at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Electronics is smart grids. This subject is connected with the new structures of this type of networks, advanced measurement systems, distributed monitoring systems, managing (expert programs) and controlling the process of transmission and conversion of electrical energy, the visualisation and reporting in a power engineering system, as well as in an industrial or municipal environment ("smart buildings").
Traditional research areas within the scope of electrical engineering are electrical machinery and devices (design optimisation, diagnostics) and electric drives (advanced control systems for drives of low electric power, used, for example, in industrial robots, up to the drives of high electric power (megawatts), which are used in extractive and metal-forming industries, as well as electric traction.)
Within the subject area of mechanics, operation and construction of machines, research is conducted in the field of mechanization of production processes. In this group, a particular attention needs to be drawn to testing and research into the strength of mechanical housings, research into the process of solid rock mining, and the mechanization of plastic forming. Research into magnetic wire ropes has also been developed successfully, and its results have contributed to the development of the world's science and technology. Research works into the safety of cable transportation systems are also conducted.
On the other hand, research into safety improvement in the field of operation of machines and devices concentrates on the wear processes of machines and devices, problems of material and construction elements fatigue with a particular attention to the propagation of fatigue cracks, as well as the non-destructive testing of machines and constructions. Research is also conducted into the development and implementation of new methods of computation and the construction of machines and devices, as well as the optimisation of structural parameters of some selected parts and machine units.
Research is carried out into the identification of dynamic and acoustic models of machines, devices and industrial objects. AGH-UST also conducts the analysis of vibroacoustic phenomena in the environment, as well as carries out research into the issues of vibroacoustic diagnostics. Along with the works listed above, research is also conducted into the techniques and technologies of monitoring noise hazards in the environment, including the development of acoustic maps of urban areas.
Research into the methods of waste utilization is continued. This includes the appropriateness of machinery and devices for technological lines, improving the construction of electrostatic precipitators in order to increase their efficiency, as well as the improvement of sedimentation unit constructions.
Within the subject area of "mechatronics", research is conducted into the implementation of modal analysis in diagnostics, as well as the application of system theories and operational testing in industrial logistics. There are also works concerning the application of active systems in vibration damping, the optimisation of the process of technological devices maintenance, and the methods of hazard identification for the purposes of object diagnostics.
Research conducted at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics also encompasses subject areas connected with energy and its resources, such as: research into the construction of water and air protection equipment, the energetic utilization of renewable sources of energy, designing and examining the conversion of solar energy into thermal energy, designing and examining wind turbines for the purpose of the conversion of the wind's kinetic energy into electric energy, designing and examining the conversion of geothermal energy into thermal and electric energy.
