Reports

On 30 November 2021, a ceremony was held in the Bethlehem Chapel to award medals to CTU experts for exceptional performance in times of crisis. Rector of CTU, doc. Vojtěch Petráček, awarded 105 medals to researchers and other personalities who, through their innovations and personal or team involvement, contributed to the solution of the coronavirus pandemic situation in the Czech Republic and abroad. The medals were designed for this special occasion by Czech medallist, sculptor and publicist Michal Vitanovský.

The digitalization of production and management processes can significantly help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in coping with crisis periods, as well as prepare them for post-crisis transitions. A consortium of institutions involved in the EIT Manufacturing “RIS Industry 4.0 Hubs” project has led an initiative in the form of specialized digitalization seminars and targeted grant support for European SMEs to support them in digitizing their manufacturing and supply chains. CIIRC CTU participated in the project in the Czech Republic with the aim to help the development of local ecosystems. In six countries, more than a hundred companies took part in individualized seminars and 14 companies received direct support and consultations.

Students of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Kristýna Klůsová from "Architecture and Civil Engineering", Barbora Macková and Tadeáš Zahradník from "Project Management and Engineering" participated in the mixed Czech-American team that won the Associated Schools of Construction competition in the Design&Build category. Their project involved the design and construction of zero-carbon future homes loosely based on the Future Homes demonstrator standard. Competitors had to design an alternative carbon neutral solution using off-site construction.

Several European universities, including CTU, through the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering (FNSPE), have joined the European Quantum Flagship's QTEdu Open Master project. The aim of the universities and other participating organizations is to train quantum experts who will be needed for the ongoing development of quantum technologies.

On Wednesday, 24 November 2021, a festive gathering of the academic community took place in Bethlehem Chapel to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Faculty's independence. At the ceremony, where the leading representatives of the faculty inaugurated new gowns designed by Liběna Rochová, medals were awarded to prominent personalities, the Dean's Award was presented to the best students, two exhibitions were opened and two new books were launched.

Robot does not automatically equate to “robota” (a word for work); in fact, it can be associated with lightness, playfulness and ease. This is how the researchers from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of CTU approached the making of their Christmas video to wish everyone a happy and merry Christmas, and also to celebrate the successful year 2021 in style. The year that marks a centennial since the word robot was first used in Karel Čapek's play R.U.R., to become probably the world's most used Czech word in the following decades.

Czech Technical University in Prague awarded its best students with the Stanislav Hanzl Prize on the occasion of the International Student Day on 17 November. The award was presented on 23 November 2021 in the Bethlehem Chapel during the gala concert of the Czech Academy of Engineering by Rector of Czech Technical University in Prague, doc. RNDr. Vojtěch Petráček, CSc., and doc. Ing. Antonín Pokorný, CSc., Chairman of the Board of the CTU Stanislav Hanzl Endowment Fund.

Junior Star projects subsidized by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic aim to support the best budding scientists up to 8 years after obtaining their Ph.D. The financial support will help them pursue their own scientific projects, as well as start their own research group and promote excellence. In this year's call, only 16 projects in all scientific fields across the Czech Republic were chosen for funding out of a total of 315 submitted proposals. Of these, two projects from CTU in Prague were supported, namely from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and the Faculty of Transport.

The team of faculties, units and the Rector's Office of CTU, representing our university at the XXVII European Fair of Post-Secondary and Lifelong Learning Gaudeamus Brno 2021, which was held from 23 to 26 November 2021, won 1st place in the competition for the best exposition of the fair.

In the week from 13 to 20 November 2021, CTU in cooperation with University of Chemistry and Technologyorganized a total of 11 intensive courses within the Athens program, which were attended by 206 foreign students from leading European technical universities.