Received: Aug 24, 2020 Accepted: Aug 24, 2020 DOI: 10.2478/rmzmag-2020-0011 Other papers In memoriam – zaslužni profesor dr. Uroš Bajželj Professor emeritus dr. Uroš Bajželj Quietly and suddenly, he left our world strug­gling with a coronavirus pandemic. Dear and respected professor emeritus dr. Uroš Bajželj unfortunately lost this battle on March 30 this year. We often look back and find that the de­velopment of any profession largely depends on the people who are committed to it and with their abilities co-shape the directions of action with a view to the future. Among them, with­out a doubt, we can also include the professor emeritus dr. Uroš Bajželj, to whom we sincerely thank for his contribution to the development of mining and geotechnological science. He was born in Ljubljana on October 6th, 1931, and like many other talented children in his youth, he walked the paths dictated primarily by school and the desire for knowledge, especially in the fields of technology and science, which allowed him to be already appointed a demon­strator during his studies at the University of Ljubljana. In 1957, he successfully completed his university studies and became a graduate mining engineer. His life path first brought him to Idrija, to the Mercury Mine, where he quick­ly integrated into the mining environment with a centuries-old tradition and began to work systematically and creatively in the demand­ing professional field of mining. The hard and development-oriented work of the young en­gineer was highly appreciated by the employ­ees in the mine, because he was always ready to lead development projects or participate in innovations and improvements in technical and technological processes of ore extraction in ex­tremely complex geological conditions. Before leaving for the new position of general manager of the Kaolin and Calcite Mine Crna - Kamnik, he was the head of the development depart­ment for one year. In his new position, its abil­ity to achieve development goals has come to the fore again, thus, in 1978, as an innovator, he was awarded the “innovation chain”. One year earlier, one of the station in his life was the position of general manager of the Min­ing Institute Ljubljana, where with great love and persistent work he managed to organize the institute into an internationally recognized research organization in the field of mining. Until his election in 1987 to the title of Asso­ciate Professor of Mining at the University of Ljubljana, where he also successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, he worked scientif­ically and research in various fields of mining activities. Although he worked creatively in several areas of mining, his attachment to the Idrija mine never dried up. In several roles, he actively participated professionally and scien­tifically and led projects that quided the mine through difficult periods of closure with at least partially preserved mercury production, so that he and his colleagues managed to combine environmental conditions of ore mining with adapted technological processes of precious metal extraction. The exact opposite of the cen­turies-old tradition of bottom-up excavation was the introduction of a top-down mining method using hardened backfill in Permo-Car­boniferous shales with much lower impacts on the development of sedimentation of the nar­rower and wider excavation area with higher yield of native mercury, past due to its physical properties lost in the backfill below each level of excavation. He actively led and participated in the pro­duction and implementation of mine closure projects, which were built into the mining en­vironment in order to preserve the town of Id­rija above the partially submerged cave, which for centuries gave hard-earned bread to miners and their families. As part of these mining ac­tivities, he contributed with his knowledge and rich experience to the arrangement of Antoni­jev rov and other mining facilities into a min­ing museum, which is now visited by tourists and various experts from around the world. He was also an active member of the expert commission, which oversaw the maintenance work in the wider area of ..the mine, through­out the closure work and later. He focused a lot of his professional and scientific potential on research for the needs of uranium ore mining in the Žirovski vrh uranium mine. Also in this “young mine” he led the development of a new mining method, with great emphasis on im­proved protection of miners and respect for environmental conditions, in order to guide the development of environmentally friendly min­ing, which at that time was not as important as today. In professional interviews and scientific debates, he indicated that he felt a special de­sire or a kind of mission that mining must adapt to new challenges that require economic effi­ciency while strictly respecting environmen­tal requirements and ensuring the protection and health of miners who perform demanding mining works. All of this points to a mining ex­pert and scientist, and a university teacher who had a sense of the future and a sense of realiz­ing original ideas based on a solid profession­al foundation and vision. He has presented the results of research projects at numerous inter­national conferences, symposia and congresses and lectured on research achievements at var­ious universities around the world, including prestigious ones such as Columbia University, Henry Krumb School of Mines in New York and elsewhere. After 1987, his work in the field of pedagogy brought him even closer to mining science. He led and organized research work in the projects with international participation in the field of introduction of hardened backfill in the metal mines and coal mines in order to ensure devel­opment of mining even in more demanding eco­nomic and environmental management condi­tions. Special thanks go to him also as a leader in the establishment of the geotechnological profes­sion in our country, which enables the transfer and application of traditional knowledge of the field of mining to the other industries and thus the existence and further development of this applied science. During his pedagogical work at the faculty, in 1993 he was elected to the title full professor of mining and geotechnology. Under his mentorship, more than twenty stu­dents graduated, more than five of them suc­cessfully defended their master’s theses and just as successfully defended their doctoral dissertations at the Department of Geotechnol­ogy, Mining and Environment at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana. During his tenure at the University of Ljublja­na, the late Professor Uroš Bajželj performed high-quality scientific research work and other responsible functions and received several na­tional and international awards, including the title of Honorary Doctor at Petrosani University in Romania and the title of Meritorious Member of International of the International Society of Mining Professors and the World Mining Con­gress - IOC-WMC. In the period 1993–1997 he was the first president of the Slovenian Mining Association of Engineers and Technicians - SR­DIT and its honorary member. At the 58th Jump over the leather skin in Velenje, he received the title of honorary jumper. Until recently, he was an active member of the Slovenian Chamber of Engineers, which awarded him with award for his life's work in the field of mining and geo­technology. Younger colleagues are proud and we will be proud of him in the future as well, even if he is no longer among us. There remains a deep respect and gratitude for all his noble deeds, which helped us in our professional decisions and other orientations in our work, which is related to the nature and difficulty of the min­ing profession, in its own always interesting and attractive. Zaslužnemu profesorju dr. Urošu Bajžlju Tiho in nenadoma je zapustil naš svet, ki se spopada s pandemijo koronavirusa. Dragi in spoštovani zaslužni profesor dr. Uroš Bajželj je to bitko žal izgubil 30. marca letos. Pogosto se oziramo nazaj in ugotavljamo, da je razvoj kate­re koli stroke v veliki meri odvisen predvsem od ljudi, ki so ji predani in s svojimi sposobnostmi sooblikujejo smeri delovanja s pogledom na­prej, v prihodnost. Mednje brez dvoma lahko štejemo tudi zaslužnega profesorja dr. Uroša Bajžlja, ki se mu na tem mestu med drugim is­kreno zahvaljujemo za njegov prispevek k ra­zvoju rudarske in geotehnološke znanosti. Rodil se je v Ljubljani 6. oktobra 1931 leta in je kot mnogi drugi nadarjeni otroci v mladosti prehodil pota, ki jih je v prvi vrsti narekovala šola in želja po znanju, predvsem s podrocij teh­nike in naravoslovja, kar mu je omogocilo, da je bil že v casu študija na Univerzi v Ljubljani ime­novan za demonstratorja. Leta 1957 je uspešno koncal univerzitetni študij in postal diplomirani inženir rudarstva. Življenjska pot ga je najprej pripeljala v Idrijo, v Rudnik živega srebra, kjer se je hitro vklopil v rudarsko okolje z vecstole­tno tradicijo in zacel sistematsko in ustvarjalno delati na zahtevnem strokovnem podrocju ru­darstva. Naporno in razvojno naravnano delo mladega inženirja so sodelavci v rudniku viso­ko cenili, ker je bil vedno poleg operativnega in odgovornega dela, ki ga je opravljal kot tehnicni vodja jame, pripravljen voditi razvojne projekte ali sodelovati pri inovacijah in izboljšavah teh­nicnih in tehnoloških postopkov pridobivanja rude v izjemno zapletenih geoloških razmerah. Pred odhodom na novo delovno mesto direk­torja Rudnika kaolina in kalcita Crna – Kamnik, je bil eno leto vodja službe za razvoj. Na novem delovnem mestu je ponovno prišla do izraza njegova sposobnost udejanjanja razvojnih ci­ljev, tako je bil leta 1978 kot inovator nagrajen z »inovacijsko verigo«. Eno leto prej je bila ena izmed postaj na nje­govi življenjski poti delovno mesto direktorja Rudarskega inštituta Ljubljana, kjer je z veliko ljubeznijo in vztrajnim delom uspel organizirati inštitut v mednarodno prepoznavno raziskoval­no organizacijo na podrocju rudarstva. V casu do izvolitve leta 1987 v naziv izrednega profesorja za podrocje rudarstva na Univerzi v Ljubljani, kjer je med drugim tudi uspešno obranil doktorsko disertacijo, je znanstveno in raziskovalno delal na razlicnih podrocjih rudar­skih dejavnosti. Ceprav je ustvarjalno delal na vec podrocjih rudarstva, njegova navezanost na idrijski rudnik ni nikoli presahnila. V vec vlogah je dejavno strokovno in znanstveno so­deloval in vodil projekte, ki so usmerjali rudnik skozi težka obdobja zapiranja ob vsaj delno ohranjeni proizvodnji živega srebra tako, da je uspel skupaj s svojimi sodelavci združiti oko­ljevarstvene pogoje odkopavanja rude s prila­gojenimi tehnološkimi postopki pridobivanja dragocene kovine. Pravo nasprotje vecstoletni tradiciji nacina odkopavanja od spodaj navzgor je bila uvedba metode odkopavanja z uporabo utrjenega zasipa od zgoraj navzdol v permo­-karbonskih skrilavcih z veliko manjšimi vplivi na razvoj posedanja ožjega in širšega obmocja odkopavanja ob višjem izkoristku pridobivanja samorodnega živega srebra, ki se je v preteklo­sti zaradi svojih fizikalnih lastnosti izgubljalo v zasipih pod vsakokratnim nivojem odkopava­nja. Aktivno je vodil in sodeloval pri izdelavi in izva­janju projektov zapiralnih del rudnika, ki so bili vgrajeni v rudarsko okolje z namenom ohranja­nja mesta Idrija nad delno potopljeno jamo, ki je stoletja dajala težko zaslužen kruh rudarjem in njihovim družinam. V okviru navedenih rudar­skih dejavnosti je s svojim znanjem in bogatimi izkušnjami prispeval k urejanju Antonijevega rova in drugih rudniških obratov v rudarski muzej, ki ga danes obiskujejo turisti in razlic­ni strokovnjaki s celega sveta. Prav tako je bil vseskozi, v casu izvajanja zapiralnih del in ka­sneje, aktiven clan strokovne komisije, ki je be­dela nad izvajanjem vzdrževalnih del na širšem obmocju rudnika. Veliko svojega strokovnega in znanstvenega potenciala je usmeril v raziskave za potrebe pridobivanja uranove rude v Ru­dniku urana Žirovski vrh. Tudi v tem »mladem rudniku« je vodil razvoj nove odkopne metode, z velikim poudarkom na izboljšani zašciti ru­darjev in spoštovanju okoljevarstvenih pogojev, z namenom usmerjanja razvoja okolju prijazne­ga rudarjenja, ki v tistem casu še ni bilo tako pomembno kot danes. V strokovnih razgovorih in znanstvenih debatah je nakazoval, da v sebi cuti posebno željo oziroma neke vrste poslan­stvo, da se mora rudarjenje prilagajati novim iz­zivom, ki zahtevajo ekonomsko ucinkovitost ob strogem spoštovanju okoljevarstvenih zahtev in stalnem zagotavljanju varstva in zdravja ru­darjev, ki izvajajo zahtevna rudarska dela. Vse to kaže na rudarskega strokovnjaka in znan­stvenika ter univerzitetnega ucitelja, ki je imel obcutek za prihodnost in smisel za udejanjanje izvirnih zamisli temeljecih na trdnih strokov­nih osnovah in viziji. Rezultate raziskovalnih projektov je predstavil na številnih mednaro­dnih konferencah, simpozijih in kongresih ter predaval o raziskovalnih dosežkih na razlicnih univerzah v svetu med drugimi tudi na presti­žnih kot sta Columbia University, Henry Krumb School of Mines v New Yorku in drugje. Delo na pedagoškem podrocju ga je po letu 1987 še bolj približalo rudarski znanosti. Vodil in organiziral je raziskovalno delo na projektih z mednarodno udeležbo s podrocja uvajanja utrjenih zasipov v kovinske rudnike in premo­govnike z namenom zagotavljanja razvoja ru­darstva tudi v zahtevnejših ekonomskih in oko­ljevarstvenih pogojih gospodarjenja. Posebna zahvala mu velja kot vodilnemu pri ustanavljanju geotehnološke stroke v naši dr­žavi, ki omogoca prenose in uveljavljanje tra­dicionalnih znanj s podrocja rudarstva tudi na druge gospodarske panoge in s tem obstoj in nadaljnji razvoj te aplikativne znanstvene vede. V casu opravljanja pedagoškega dela na fakul­teti, je bil leta 1993 izvoljen v naziv rednega profesorja za podrocje rudarstva in geotehno­logije. Pod njegovim mentorstvom je diplomiralo vec kot dvajset študentk in študentov, vec kot pet jih je uspešno zagovarjalo magistrska dela ter prav toliko uspešno obranilo doktorske diser­tacije na Oddelku za geotehnologijo, rudarstvo in okolje na Naravoslovnotehniški fakulteti Uni­verze v Ljubljani. Pokojni profesor Uroš Bajželj je v casu svojega delovanja na Univerzi v Ljubljani opravljal viso­ko kakovostno znanstveno raziskovalno delo in druge odgovorne funkcije ter prejel vec doma­cih in mednarodnih priznanj, med katerimi ve­lja posebej izpostaviti naslov castnega doktorja na Univerzi Petrosani v Romuniji ter podelitev naziva zaslužnega clana mednarodnih združenj International Society of Mining Professors in World Mining Congress – IOC-WMC. V obdobju 1993–1997 je bil prvi predsednik Slovenskega rudarskega društva inženirjev in tehnikov – SRDIT ter njegov castni clan. Na 58. Skoku cez kožo v Velenju je prejel naziv castnega skakalca. Do zadnjega je bil aktiven clan Inženirske zbor­nice Slovenije, ki mu je podelila pomembno na­grado za njegovo življenjsko delo na podrocju rudarstva in geotehnologije. Mlajši kolegi smo in bomo ponosni nanj tudi v prihodnje, ceprav ga ni vec med nami. Ostaja globoko spoštovanje in zahvala za vsa pleme­nita dejanja, ki so nam bila v pomoc pri naših strokovnih odlocitvah in drugih usmeritvah pri našem delu, ki je povezano z naravo in težavno­stjo rudarskega poklica, po svoje vedno zanimi­vega in privlacnega. prof. dr. Jakob Likar izr. prof. dr. Jože Kortnik Open Access. © 2020 prof. dr. Jakob Likar, izr. prof. dr. Jože Kortnik, published by Sciendo. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.