Reports

“We are pleased by the Minister's interest in CTU's specialized scientific workplaces and projects focused on future technologies. I introduced the Minister to the main pillars of our research activities, among others the IT Center, the Science Center, and the AIZEN Network addressing the use of artificial intelligence for a safe civil society. I asked the Minister to support international networks coordinated by CTU and to help with the acquisition of high-quality foreign students and researchers and for the European integration of the research infrastructure in artificial intelligence, I offered a scheme similar to CERN, with which I have long experience.,” said doc. Vojtěch Petráček.

The motivational scholarship was announced for the first time by the Faculty of Civil Engineering for this academic year. Its aim is to support high school students that excel in mathematics and have entered the first year of bachelor study. Thanks to him, 61 students received a total of 467,500 crowns.

The visually impaired still face difficulties in studying and moving around the campus, despite all construction-technical measures. Therefore, CTU is trying a whole new approach by offering its handicapped students a unique wearable assistance aid, the OrCam MyEye 2 based on advanced AI. Rektor doc. Vojtěch Petráček received it on 4 February in the presence of representatives of the National Council of People with Disabilities, the Mathilda Foundation and the Leontinka Foundation. On the same occasion, the blind pianist and singer Ráchel Skleničková formally took over OrCam MyEye 2 from the hands of J. E. Daniel Meron, Ambassador of the State of Israel.

Jan Sedláček, a student of the Bachelor's program at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, scored at the IREC - International Real Estate Challenge 2020, which took place in Italy at Politecnico Milano on 8 to 17 January. This year, 52 students from 10 European universities participated and the Faculty of Civil Engineering had three representatives. They were divided into 11 international teams and each team was given a specific task to solve in one city.

On 27 January, representatives of CTU in Prague and UC Berkeley Extension held talks at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. The main issue on the agenda was a discussion on the creation of a new joint master's study program in robotics and industry 4.0.

The university-wide CTU exhibition was unavoidable at the XIIIth annual European Fair of Lifelong and Post-secondary Education, Gaudeamus Prague not only thanks to events at the stand, but also interesting lectures by representatives from individual CTU faculties. They enjoyed great interest from high school students and their teachers who perceived CTU very positively. This is evidenced by the fact that in the competition for the best exhibition of the fair, we got second place competing with the attractive expositions of other universities.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček visited the University Center of Energy Efficient Buildings of the Czech Technical University, from where scientists will send the SAWER system to Dubai, which will become the core of the Czech national pavilion at the EXPO 2020 world exhibition During his visit, the minister got to know the activities of the center. He appreciated the technical advancement of the S.A.W.E.R system and the merits of its creators in spreading the good name of domestic science and the whole Czech Republic abroad.

For the ninth time, the Association of Energy Services Providers announced the results of the competition for the best upcoming energy saving project of the year. CTU in Prague won first place for its revitalization in 9 CTU campuses. The expert jury consisting of Vladimír Sochor (MIT), Petr Holub (Chance for Buildings) and Martin Sedlák (Association of Modern Energy) appreciated the complexity of the EPC's largest ever project, where one third of the costs will be covered by the OPE. This includes not only energy-saving measures in thirty buildings throughout Prague, but also insulation and replacement of windows for a total of 220 million crowns. These will be repaid gradually from contractually guaranteed energy savings, which amount to 20.5 million crowns per year for eleven years.

On January 21 in Bethlehem Chapel professor Wolfgang Wahlster was awarded an honorary title doctor honoris causa during ceremonial assembly of the Scientific Council of CTU in Prague. Professor Wahlster is one of the most prominent figures of the German artificial intelligence and a scientific god-father of Industry 4.0. He also contributed to its advancement to the Czech Republic. Since the 1990s he has supported Czech science and developed cooperation between Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics CTU (CIIRC) and one of the most prestigious institutions in the field of artificial intelligence - the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence, DFKI, which he founded and until recently led, now he acts there as a Chief Executive Advisor.

On 17 January 2020, a commemorative ceremony was held at the Jan Palach memorial plaque at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Jan Palach Square. Jan Palach set himself on fire on 16 January 1969 to protest against normalization, ie the suppression of freedoms by the Communist regime after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact troops in 1968. His memorial was honored by CTU in Prague by laying flowers on the plaque.