Reports

The Neuron Foundation for the Promotion of Science awarded the Neuron 2023 Prizes to the best Czech scientists on Sunday 15 October 2023. During the gala evening, seven promising scientific talents received the prestigious award, including computer vision expert Dr. Zuzana Kúkelová from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of CTU.

The popularity of photovoltaic panels in the Czech Republic is growing. (According to data from the Solar Association, 69% more photovoltaic panels were installed than in the whole of 2022, in the first half of this year alone.) The motivation of investors in photovoltaics is now presented in more detail by researchers from Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague, who, in a clear brochure, have summarized the entire typology and other results of a unique survey of nearly 2,500 owners of photovoltaic power plants.

CTU in Prague and CIIRC hosted a meeting of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) alumni on October 13-15. The main organizer was MIT Club Germany in cooperation with MIT Club Poland and MIT Club Austria, and ALUMNI CTU and its leader Petr Štěpán participated in the organization.

Three students of Faculty of Architecture have won awards at prestigious competitions. Mariia Sokolova from the ZD Jaroš-Nezpěváková studio won the second prize in the 27th edition of the prestigious international competition Model Young Package, where the jury awarded her design for an innovative beverage container that is foldable and environmentally friendly. And in the eleventh edition of the competition "Buildings with the smell of wood", the works of our graduates were awarded - the Shelter by Kateřina Šrofová won the jury's award, and the design by Karolina Šimonová for the conversion of Tepna Náchod was awarded by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The IBM Quantum Hub Qiskit hackathon was held 8-10 August 2023 at National Taiwan University (NTU) with about 70 participants from NTU, Yonsei University (Korea), Keio University (Japan), Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), and other academic and non-academic institutions from Taiwan as part of an effort to build a regional community of quantum computing experts. CTU was represented by Dr. Aurél Gábris, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering (FNSPE), who served also as a mentor to teams during the hackathon, and six students from FNSPE and the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT).

Czech aircraft manufacturer Aero is entering a new era of research and development through strategic cooperation with prestigious technical universities. Aero representatives met with representatives of the Czech Technical University (CTU), Brno University of Technology (BUT) and the University of Defence in Brno (UNOB) to discuss systematic cooperation on a number of key projects.

This morning, Environment Minister Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) visited the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings at the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU UCEEB), where he learned about current research and new technologies for energy-efficient buildings and cities of the future. The main topics of the meeting were sustainability in construction, circular economy and clean energy for buildings and cities.

The Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic awarded P-D Refractories CZ a.s. with the Industry 4.0 Award for the implementation of the production line for ceramic chimney liners designed by Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague. Ing. Libor Beránek, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Machining Technology, Design and Metrology, together with the CEO of P-D Refractories CZ a.s., received the award on behalf of the faculty, at the gala evening of the International Engineering Fair in Brno on 10 October 2023.

Decarbonisation of the construction industry, recycling of building materials, renewable energy or wooden buildings. A series of four moderated discussions, held at the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings of CTU in Prague, opens up topics that put the emphasis on sustainability in the construction industry and presents the paths that the field is currently taking. The project is co-produced by UCEEB and the online TV channel Tvize.

In the presence of Czech Ambassador Pavel Procházka, a workshop was opened in Kashitu, Zambia, which was built over three months by Czech builders and architects with local volunteers. The workshop will serve as a base for the construction of a secondary school. An innovative building technology of interlocking unbaked bricks stabilized with cement was used, in which local volunteers were trained. The technology can thus be used locally to improve the construction of both residential buildings and, for example, the planned construction of a secondary school. The workshop is the first building of this school for 250 students. It will act as a training centre for this new construction technology before the building moves on to the next phase, and should serve as a back-of-house facility during further construction.