Reports

On the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 racetrack, the YAS Arena, the prestigious Mohammed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC) took place on 16 and 17 March. Here, the team of Dr. Martin Sasek of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, accompanied by a representative of the American University of Pennsylvania and the British University of Lincoln, won first place in the discipline of cooperative collection of objects using a group of autonomous helicopters and took silver position in the category of autonomous landing on a moving vehicle. This success earned the team the possibility to participate in the Grand Challenge competition, in which they have won the bronze medal together with colleagues from the Italian University of Padua.

On 8 March, prof. Petr Konvalinka, Rector CTU, and James Darroch, vice president of Global Mfg & Supply Chain FOXCONN CZ, signed agreement on cooperation. This is a follow up to the joint memorandum as it deepens the cooperation based on mutual sharing of expertise and training and research capacities of CTU. In cooperation with CTU academics, FOXCONN will participate on the topics for diploma and bachelor theses of CTU students, appropriately responding to the current needs of the commercial sector.

Representatives of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at CTU, signed an agreement on cooperation with Goodbaby company. Subject of the contract are innovative technologies. The company itself is engaged in production of goods for children such as strollers, car seats and other amenities.

Scientists from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and the University of Alberta in Canada have achieved major success in the field of artificial intelligence. The international team developed a computer program called Deepstack which in December 2016 beat professional players in one of the most popular card games in the world - Two player no-limit Texas hold'em poker, for the first time in history. Scientific discoveries that led to this result are published by the Science journal, one of the most prestigious scientific journals.

Institute of Spatial Planning at the Faculty of Architecture joined work on an international project called SAFERPLAY, subsidized by the EU Erasmus+ programme. Its main objective is to develop a BOC (badged Open Course - open course with digital badges). It will deal with innovative training in design, installation and maintenance of safe and stimulating spaces for play and games.

On Friday 10 February, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering joined the international project “Finding the Higgs boson decay of Z0” on the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, organized in cooperation with the International Group for popularizing Particle Physics, (IPPOG) the European Physical Society EPS and CERN on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science due on 11 February.

On February 6 to 10, the prestigious scientific institution Lorentz Center in Leiden, Netherlands, hosted international conference Path Integration in Complex Dynamical Systems held, bringing together the world's top scientists from 18 countries. The conference was organized under the auspices of the Lorentz Centre and the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering of CTU. The role of the main organizer was taken by Dr. Petr Jizba from the faculty together with prof. S. Kirchner from Zhejiang University in China, prof. L. Schulman from SUNY in New York, USA and prof. J. Zaanen of Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Scientist team from the Department of Economics, Management and Humanities of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, together with colleagues from Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening (VÚKOZ) at the Department of Phytoenergetics and Biodiversity proposed a new methodology for mapping the potential of biomass for energy use in a given area. Research was noticed by the prestigious scientific journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, which in January published an article "Short-term boosting of biomass energy sources - Determination of the biomass potential for prevention of regional Crisis Situations".

Faculty of Biomedical Engineering in Kladno inaugurated the newly built Laboratory of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry on 9 February at 13.00. Besides faculty management representatives, the event was also attended by the Deputy Mayor of Kladno, Ing. Premysl Mužík.

For the 19th time, The Siemens Czech awarded the best young scientists, students and teachers in the prestigious science competition, Werner von Siemens Prize. At the gala evening at the Bethlehem Chapel on 9 February, Marek Novák from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering received the award in the most significant result of research and innovation category. The student was awarded for the development of miniature meter with accessible operation and connection to the smartphone. Award for the best doctoral dissertation written by a woman was taken by Neda Neykova from the Department of Solid State Engineering at Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, focusing on hydrothermal synthesis of ZnO nanorods and nanoshells for use in photovoltaics.