Electromobility, artificial intelligence, 5G networks, the Internet of Things or cybersecurity: these are the topics addressed in the programme to increase the technological literacy of secondary and primary school students. The lecture module was tailor-made for pupils and students by the Technology Literacy Platform.
"We keep asking why young people are not attracted to studying technology. But the answer is obvious, we simply don't present it attractively enough. In cooperation with Škoda Auto a.s. and the Technological Literacy platform, we have decided to at least partially repay this debt to the youngest generation. We trained almost 500 pupils and students in Prague in 2023 and we are continuing to do so this year. We are pleased that thanks to the FEI VŠB-TUO and Testbed CPIT TL3 we can show that technology is cool here in Ostrava," says Robert Keil, Director of the National Centre for Industry 4.0.
It is the unique environment of the industrial testbeds that will make the potential of the technologies manifest in practice. What robots can do, how artificial intelligence is used for autonomous driving or a walk through a factory in virtual reality. Students can try everything out and literally touch the machines.
The attractiveness of the testbed is confirmed by prof. Ing. Jan Platoš, Ph.D., Dean of the FEI VŠB-TUO: "Thousands of students from primary and secondary schools, not only from the Moravian-Silesian region, visit the CPIT-TL3 testbed every year. Whole classes come to us for day-long excursions and project days. We are therefore very pleased to be able to combine our exceptional program with the Technology Literacy Project."
The Smart Factory Lab is a platform that was built in accordance with the principles of the Industry 4.0 concept and is a comprehensive, state-of-the-art laboratory for teaching, demonstrating, testing and researching technologies used for the digitalization of industry.
The Mobility Lab is equipped with special equipment for modelling, simulation and testing of electronic systems of cars. The main focus is on advanced assistance systems and systems for autonomous driving of cars and industrial vehicles. It also includes indoor and outdoor charging stations for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
This methodology is provided by the platform, whose tutors have had thousands of students pass through their hands over the course of its existence. So they know exactly what the alpha or zeta generation enjoys and what to get them excited about.
"I believe that as the Czech Republic, we have a huge potential in the upcoming generation, who take technology as a part of their lives. Our role is to be able to guide them in the right direction and show them the huge potential that awaits them. I am glad that we can be part of such an initiative that tries to preserve that higher idea," says Tadeáš Salaba from Technological Literacy."We are pleased that Production and Logistics Škoda Auto, with the help of the National Centre for Industry 4.0 and VŠB-TUO, can provide free lectures in the Testbed CPIT TL3 environment to primary and secondary schools in Ostrava. Direct contact with Industry 4.0 technologies and demonstrations of concrete projects that find their application in industrial enterprises help pupils and students to better understand the lecture content - theory becomes practice, information becomes knowledge, and interest and motivation to study technical fields increases," says Jana Polášek Filová, Expert Coordinator of Digitisation and Innovation at Škoda Auto.
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