Michal Solecki, Technical Mass Comparators Manager at RADWAG, has just defended – with distinction! – his PhD thesis in mechanical engineering at Kazimierz Pulaski University of Technology and Humanities in Radom. We are very proud of him, so we decided to ask him about his success story.

RADWAG: – We were able to establish some details about you. We know that you have been working at RADWAG for twelve years. At first you were a constructor, then you headed the mass comparator department, and now you hold the position of technical mass comparators manager. Have we left anything out? Could you complete this information?

Michal Solecki: – I started my adventure at RADWAG twelve years ago, when I applied for the job of constructor. After two years of work, I was offered the position of manager of the mass comparator department. I accepted it because I wanted to focus on this narrow field of these interesting devices. In 2017, I became technical mass comparators manager and I continue to be so. I’m involved in the design and implementation of new systems for mass comparators, including automatic comparators, robotic comparators and a vacuum comparator that works at the Central Office of Measures in Warsaw.

R.: – Information about your scientific success has reached us – you have defended your PhD thesis, and with distinction! Congratulations. Could you tell us more details? What prompted you to take on such a challenge?

M.S.: – The main factor was my own ambition – something was missing after my studies at Kazimierz Pulaski University of Technology and Humanities in Radom and I knew I could afford to do more. In addition, when I started working at RADWAG, I noticed that there is a huge scientific potential in what we do, and it was a pity not to take advantage of it.

R.: – So the topic of your thesis was closely related to your position at RADWAG?

M.S.: – Yes. As I mentioned, the scientific potential in what we do is enormous, and PhD theses or scientific articles can be edited a lot.

R.: – Did the fact that you are writing about the device you work on every day make your task easier, or was it more of a challenge? Can you tell us more about the NANO.AK-4.500.5Y automatic nano-mass comparator? What makes it different? What possibilities does it offer?

M.S.: – Definitely yes – it is much easier to write about something that a person deals with on a daily basis. The device I created and tested was not in the company’s development plans. However, when it was created, and studies of metrological parameters showed that its repeatability was impressive, the management decided to put it into production, which made me very happy. The device itself, the new NANO.AK-4.500.5Y comparator, is used for the calibration of mass standards mainly in micrograms, but not only, as its comparative range is in the range of 0.05-500 mg. I am proud to report that it is the first comparator in the world to have a resolution of 10 ng.

R.: – Where can your PhD thesis be read?

M.S.: – It is available on the website of Kazimierz Pulaski University of Technology and Humanities in Radom.

R.: – What will change in your career after such an achievement?

M.S.: – I think it will be much easier for me to establish contacts with national metrology institutes, such as CMI, NPL, NIST, etc. We are already cooperating with them, but I think that in the near future our cooperation will expand to new scientific challenges. In addition, thanks to my doctoral studies, my knowledge of test preparation for new devices that we develop in our company on a daily basis has deepened. It is possible that I will use this knowledge in the future.

R.: – What are your next academic goals and upcoming career plans?

M.S.: – My scientific goals and upcoming professional plans are interrelated, because as a technical mass comparators manager, I am involved in many interesting projects. They are confidential, but I can reveal that at the moment we are working on a hybrid of a robotic and automatic mass comparator, which combines the advantages of both and thus allows to achieve several times better repeatability than the results obtained so far on robotic mass comparators from other manufacturers.

R.: – Thank you for the interview and congratulations once again on such an accomplishment. We wish you further success.

M.S.: – Thank you very much. I would also like to thank RADWAG very much, and especially Mr. Witold Lewandowski, PhD, the company’s Owner and Founder, without whom I certainly would not have achieved this. 

You can also find information about our colleague’s success on RADWAG’s website.