Reports

Ing. Milan Šulc and prof. Jiří Matas from the Department of Cybernetics at Faculty of Electrical Engineering conduct a research on plants and fungi recognition from photographs. With their system based on deep neural networks developed in co-operation with Ing. Lukáš Picek from the Department of Cybernetics at University of Life Sciences in Prague, they have won the first place yet in three international competitions.

At the tram line section between the stops Nový Hloubětín and Vozovna Hloubětín, a unique noise mitigation measure for towns, the so-called urban noise barrier, has been tested since July. The curtain was built along the 50 meters portion of the track during maintenance work which has been underway since March. Its unique low height of mere 30 centimeters above the rail make it the lowest noise level of its kind in Europe. However, the aperture should provide attenuation of the noise from the passing tram in the range of 3 to 5 decibels. It is made of recycled materials and can be quickly dismantled in the event of an accident on the track, which will allow unobstructed intervention of rescue teams. The barrier was developed by experts from the Department of Railway Structures at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in cooperation with MONTSTAV. The work connected with the realization of the noise barrier in Hloubětín was carried out with the financial support of the Prague Operational Programme - the Pole of Growth of the Czech Republic.

The Maker Faire festival was held at the Industrial Palace at the Holešovice Exhibition Grounds on 23 and 24 June, for the first time in the Czech Republic. It highlighted the rich local tradition of do-it-yourself and handy-men and associated it with so-called maker movements, a worldwide renaissance of individual production and creativity, using new trends and technologies. The event also featured selected exhibits from the Czech Technical University in Prague, which was the partner of the event.

The design of the Czech National Pavilion at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will be created by Jan Tuma and Jindřich Ráftl. The practising architects are also PhD students at the CTU Faculty of Architecture. More closely, Ing. arch. Jan Tůma works in the studio of prof. Akad. arch. Vladimír Soukenka and Ing. arch. MgA. Jindřich Ráftl works at the studio of doc. Ing. Milos Florian, Ph.D. The Pavilion will be built by an international consortium of MCI Prague s.r.o. and Swiss NÜSSLI. The jury selected the proposal from out of five that advanced to the final round. From 21 June, Model of the pavilion is on display at the exhibition in the National Technical Museum together with other competeing proposals.

The 20th Annual Science Week at the Nuclear Faculty concluded on 22 June. This event, organized by the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering at CTU and other partners, showed what it is like to work on a specific scientific topic, write articles and present one´s work to 150 high school students. Participants worked on 49 miniprojects in small groups under the guidance of scientists and students. The event can be the first step in their future work in science.

The CTU Alumni and Friends Association organized a lecture by the leading Czech astronomer and astrophysicist Dr. Jiří Grygar on Wednesday, 13 June. During the lecturehe dealt with the questions like: Does our universe really expand? Can there be more universes? If so, are they like ours? He also talked about multiverse theory, dark matter, dark energy, gravitational waves. He also mentioned the Sysifos club of which he is a member.

The French Embassy awarded the prize ceremoniously in the premises of the Buquoy Palace on Wednesday, 20 June. The event was chaired by Jean-Marie Lehn, Nobel Prize winner for chemistry in 1987. There were also two notable guests: Jean-Pierre Sauvage, the Nobel Prize winner for chemistry in 2016, and Serge Haroche, Nobel Prize winner for Physics 2012, and of course the Ambassador of France, Mr. Roland Galharague.

The 9th anniversary of the FELFEST festival was held at the Vítězne náměstí in Prague on Wednesday, 13 June. Visitors could see interesting exhibits that were created at the Faculty of Electrical Egineering and listen to performances of professional and student bands.

CTU has been presented as whole at the 15th Prague Museum Night at the National Technical Museum on the night of 9 to 10 June. It was the second most visited museum, with more than 10,000 visitors during the evening and throughout the night. As part of the event, the Faculty of Architecture in Dejvice was also accessible.

The following year of the University rowing boats race took place at Rašínovo nábřeží in Prague on Friday, 8 June. The CTU team won the Primátorky competition for the sixth time in a row. The triumph is credited to the crew consisting of Jiří Kopáč, Jan Hájek, Jiří Vaněk, Milan Bruncvík, Vít Šantrůček, Martin Basl, Jakub Paroulek, Jan Zavadil and the helmsman Tereza Paroulková.