History of the Department of Non-ferrous Metals and Waste Treatments
The Department was established in 1954 under the original name of the Department of Metallurgy and Foundry. The Department specialised nationally in non-ferrous metallurgy. As a result of societal developments, it has undergone several formal and substantive changes, leading to its transformation into the present Department of Metallurgy.
Since 2005, the Waste Treatment Centre (CENSO) has been an integral part of the Department and the study field of Environmental Engineering. CENSO was established on the basis of the Department's long-standing and purposeful work in the field of waste treatment and built on its history and tradition. CENSO offers a wide range of activities in the treatment and recycling of municipal and industrial waste as well as components of separate collection. In addition to its experimental activities, the laboratory is also involved in the development of theoretical knowledge in the field of waste treatment and recycling. In addition to its active publishing activities, it is a co-organiser of international and national scientific conferences.
In 2013, as a result of long-standing cooperation between KNKaSO and ŽP Research and Development Centre Ltd., a joint laboratory was established - Laboratory of Industrial Waste Processing (LSPO). The main objective of the LSPO is to create a space for closer cooperation between the school and industrial practice and to provide appropriate technical and material conditions for the implementation of research in the field of metal-bearing waste recycling.
Members of the Department have worked as experts in Nigeria, Zambia and Iran. They have carried out long-term stays in Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Chile, Croatia, India, Japan, Canada, Hungary, Norway, Peru, Poland, Austria, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, UK, USA and Brazil.
Visiting professors from Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Chile, Japan, Canada, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Russia, Finland, Italy, Great Britain and Great Britain have lectured at the department. In the academic year 2007/2008, Prof. DrSc., Dr.h.c., Heikki Kusti Jalkanen, whose previous position was at Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Laboratory of Metallurgy, Finland, served as a University Professor at the Institute. As part of their student activities and thesis work, the Institute's students have visited Belgium, Russia, Germany, Germany, Poland, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Norway, Greece and Spain.