The Conference on Engineering and Architecture Design Education (EADE-2019), was held between 3 and 7 June 2019, under the combined patronage of the Faculty of Architecture at Cracow University of Technology (FA-CUT), Kraków, Poland, the Faculty of Architecture at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (FA-SUT), Bratislava, Slovakia, the Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk University of Technology (FA-GUT), Gdańsk, Poland, and the World Institute for Engineering and Technology Education (WIETE).

The Conference proceedings commenced with the Opening Ceremony held in on Tuesday, 4 June 2019, at which the WIETE Director, Professor Zenon J. Pudlowski, presented a brief introduction and introduced the representatives of the collaborating institutions. Then, the Conference was officially opened by the Conference Patron, His Magnificence Professor Jan Kazior, Rector of Cracow University of Technology, who welcomed the participants to the University. Welcoming addresses were also presented by Professor Derek O. Northwood, Inaugural President of the WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee (WIETE-IAAC), Professor Jacek Gyurkovich, Dean of the FA-CUT, Professor Lucyna Nyka, Dean of the FA-GUT, Professor Pavel Gregor, Dean of the FA-SUT, and Prof. Robert Špaček, President of the WIETE-IAAC.

An Opening Addresses Session followed the official Opening Ceremony and was chaired by Professor Sabina Kuc of the FA-CUT, Vice-President of the WIETE-IAAC, and Chairman of the Conference Local Organising Committee. Five highly informative and enlightening presentations were delivered by the Deans of the collaborating Faculties, as well as the two representatives of the WIETE. As a novum, the opening addresses were published in full before the Conference in the World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education (WTE&TE), Vol.17, No.2, giving the prospective participants the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the issues raised in them, thereby creating an excellent ground for the direction of the Conference’s focus and useful discussions.

There were more than fifty presentations at the Conference with contributions coming from eight countries worldwide. Most papers addressed aspects of the Conference topics with a strong focus on architectural education as a specific branch of engineering. The Conference provided the participants with an excellent opportunity to interact with the speakers on all aspects of engineering and architecture design education.

The Conference Gala Banquet was held on Wednesday, 5 June 2019, at the VIDOK restaurant, which has spectacular views of the historical Royal Castle in Kraków. The banquet commenced with a surprise vocal performance by a PhD student Ms Aliya Appassova, who originally came to Poland from L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University Astana, Kazakhstan, to study at the FA-CUT. The highlight of the performance was a hit song (Radość najpiękniejszych lat) from the repertoire of the late Anna Jantar, who tragically died in a plane crash in Warsaw in 1980. Aliya performed this song in the Polish language!

It is a WIETE tradition to present occasional awards, and in this case an Australian sterling silver coin featuring the relevant sign from the Chinese zodiac was given to Professor Jacek Gyurkovich, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the CUT by Professor Zenon J. Pudlowski, WIETE Director. The citation attached to the silver coin reads: Celebrating the 2019 Conference on Engineering & Architecture Design Education in the Year of the Pig, this WIETE gift is presented in recognition of your achievements in engineering and technology education. The WIETE Director also expressed his gratitude to Professor Gyurkovich for hosting the Conference and the support provided to its organisation. Further, he thanked the recipient for providing his unequivocal support of the partnership between the FA-CUT and the WIETE.

During the Banquet, Professor Pavel Gregor, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia, presented the WIETE Director, Professor Zenon J. Pudlowski with a certificate extending the appointment of Professor Pudlowski as a Visiting Professor in the study of architecture and urban planning for another two-year term, commencing on 1 October 2019. Under this honorary appointment, Professor Pudlowski has been assisting the Faculty of Architecture in their educational activities, particularly in the promotion and development of research publications by their staff and postgraduate students.

Professor Pudlowski is being congratulated on this honour.