The main motto of this year's edition - Mystery - was also topic of the speech by Radek Holý, Vice-Rector of CTU in Prague, who presented the university's contribution at a press conference last week: 'Without mystery, science would never have come into being, and the more our knowledge deepens, the more mysteries we discover again. It is a never-ending adventure of science. The goal of events like Scientists' Night is to get new knowledge out into the community, to showcase what we are exploring in our technical research, and of course to attract new CTU students. I believe that by doing all this we will contribute to the Czech Republic moving towards a more industrially advanced country."
So what will the individual CTU sites showcase? Visitors to the Dejvice Campus, where several stops are located, will see the most comprehensive offer:
Faculty of Civil Engineering will show what circular construction is, what the latest sustainability trends are, how to recycle demolition waste and how to reduce the environmental impact of construction. It will be possible to try your hand at exploring less traditional building materials made from recycled or wood-based materials, or to learn about what lies beneath and behind the surface of walls.
In the building of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, you can, for example, try C-DURO BIKE with a trainer, which will excite especially cyclists. There will also be a Formula with a hybrid drive built by students whose team has long held top positions in international competitions. There will also be a wind tunnel, a model cooling tower, an acoustic laboratory and much more.
At Faculty of Electrical Engineering you will meet a pack of clever robots that can save human lives. There is also another formula car, this time electric, built by the student team eForce; will you also try out the local racing simulator? Experience a spectacular thunderstorm in the high-voltage laboratory and a virtual reality walk through historic Prague. You will also be entertained by the original "Tesla" concert in front of the faculty.
Faculty of Information Technology will also offer a lot: visitors will enter a virtual world in the Network and Multimedia Laboratory, the Laboratory of Intelligent Embedded Systems they will try how to order coffee from robots. In the Graphics and Game Design Lab, you can play computer games developed by students. As and add-on, there will be a lecture on "How to bring history to life through VR".
There will be three stops in the building at address 3 Jugoslávských partisans street. Faculty of Biomedical Engineering will come from its headquarters in Kladno to present a transport ultrasound for use in emergency medicine and a simulator of vital functions, and will show a fully equipped faculty ambulance. Visitors will try on a suit that simulates old age and glasses that simulate optical defects. They will be able to try to fool a lie detector or find out how emotions can be detected using artificial intelligence.
Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics, offers a robotic factory, learn how much work goes into printing a probe that has delivered a thousand LEGO figures into space, the NAO robot will mix a soft drink, discover the novelties of smart golf carts or the secrets of automatic baking. Children will have fun in the drawing corner, adults can have fun in the relax zone.
There will also be an opportunity to demonstrate basic knowledge about CTU in a short quiz and win prizes - the CTU Rector's Office in the Infocentre will organise this for visitors.
In Břehova Street in the Old Town, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering will demonstrate How Light Changes Substance and Vice Versa, or What a Nuclear Reactor Can Be Good For. Within the topic Different Faces of Radiation, you will learn whether you should be afraid of the invisible radiation or not. There are also two workshops: the Mysterious Microworld, which introduces the world of elementary particles, and Mysterious Radiation.
Faculty of Transportation Sciences and its branch of the CTU Central Library will welcome visitors at Horská Street in the New Town. They will see the supertuned motorcycles of the CTU Lions faculty racing team. A traditional attraction is the Transportation Hall, where they will experience the ins and outs of railway traffic management. There will be a Boeing 737 simulator with virtual reality controls, an Airbus 320 simulator and more. There will also be a creative transport workshop.
In the library, visitors will see all the things can be hidden in the darkened book storage. They can create a chest, write a message in invisible ink or take a quiz on the history of writing. There is also a journey to discover the soundscape of the library.
The last Prague site is again at Nové Město and Karlovo square, where you can take part in an experiment in the building of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering to see what the environment of outer space can do with a marshmallow. You will try what it is like to sit in a real aircraft, see a model of the first Czech probe to the Moon, and an unexpected experience will be a look at various materials under a microscope.
In Děčín, those who visit the Night of Scientists can look forward to the exhibits of Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering and Faculty of Transportation Sciences. The nuclear faculty will also uncover the world of emotions, perhaps a bit unexpectedly, when it will ask "Are your emotions a secret?" and offer a virtual reality titled "Speak and no one will explode!". The transport faculty will ride a similar wave with the theme "What's in the driver's head", but will also uncover, for example, the secrets of the castle granary.
NIGHT OF SCIENTISTS at CTU in Prague and Děčín, on 6 October from 17:00
The complete programme, which takes in mind both adult visitors and children, can be found at: https://www.nocvedcu.cz/organizace/ceske-vysoke-uceni-technicke-v-praze