With profound sadness, we inform our readers that Professor Andrzej Białkiewicz, Rector (Vice-Chancellor) of Cracow University of Technology (CUT), Kraków, Poland, and a WIETE Member, passed away on Wednesday, 22 March 2023.

Professor Andrzej Białkiewicz was born on 13 June 1954 in Czeladź, a town near Katowice and Sosnowiec, located in the Upper Silesia region of Poland. He graduated in architecture from Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland, in 1978, and at the same University completed his PhD and DSc in 1987 and 2005, respectively. He was a practising architect and a full Professor in the Faculty of Architecture at the CUT. He was elected Rector of this University on 8 July 2020, and took up his duties on
1 September 2020. Professor Białkiewicz, was earlier the Vice-Rector for General Affairs in two four-year terms, between 2012 and 2020.

His professional interests included, among others, history of modern architecture, sacral architecture, drawings and the advancement of graphical means for architects. His professional creative works (more than 180 projects) include conservation projects of historical objects, interior decoration, ecclesiastic architecture and public utility objects, to name a few. Professor Białkiewicz published extensively including books and peer-refereed articles in journals and conference proceedings on the theory and practice of architecture and architectural freehand drawings, and supervised several PhD and Master dissertations. He was a member of numerous national and international professional and scientific organisations and associations, including such bodies as Ars Vitrea Polona; ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites - Poland (Commission on 20th Century); and Docomomo International; and an active Member of the World Institute for Engineering and Technology Education (WIETE), with several publications in the WIETE journals to his credit.

He participated in several WIETE-organised international conferences; for instance, in 2019, the 10th Jubilee WIETE Annual Conference on Engineering and Technology Education, under the theme Promoting Research and Development in Engineering and Technology Education, held in Bangkok, Thailand, in February; the 2019 Conference on Engineering and Architecture Design Education (EADE-2019), held at Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, in June; and the 7th Mediterranean Seminar on Engineering and Technology Education, under the theme Challenges and Opportunities, held at the University of West Attika in Piraeus-Athens, Greece, in September.

As the Faculty of Architecture at the CUT is an important Partner Institution of the WIETE, we are particularly devastated by the loss of Professor Białkiewicz, a true friend and supporter of our organisation and its activities with the objective to fulfil the WIETE mission of Serving the International Engineering and Technology Community.

Staff, members and associates of the WIETE wish to pass our sincere condolences to his wife Professor Maria Jolanta Żychowska, family, friends, as well staff and students at the CUT. We will remember Professor Białkiewicz as a generous, amicable person who was honest and straightforward.

Farewell Andrzej, we will miss you greatly.