Reports

Yesterday evening, the new QS World University Rankings for 2025 were published. Czech Technical University in Prague was ranked 420th, an improvement of 34 positions. It is also one of the highest rankings for CTU since 2013.

Trends, visions, technological innovations and practical solutions under the Industry 4.0 umbrella developed in the environment of industrial testbeds. These were the themes of the Industry 4.0 Open Day, an event that opened the premises of the RICAIP Testbed Prague at the CIIRC CTU on Wednesday 29 May to directors and managers of manufacturing companies and offered nearly two hundred visitors a series of discussions on digitalization, automation or production optimization. Testbeds at the technical universities in Prague, Brno and Ostrava work together to create an infrastructure that is ready to respond to current and future challenges in manufacturing. Many companies have already tried it out, while many are just learning about the possibilities offered by these workplaces.

CTU Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is one of the first European higher education schools focused on technology. This year marks the 160th anniversary of engineering teaching at CTU in Prague, in direct continuity with the Czech State Polytechnic Institute of 1864. Throughout its history, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the CTU in Prague has educated first-class professionals for industry, science, research and other areas of society. Teachers and scientists follow the development trends in engineering and incorporate new knowledge into study programmes. Through their own development and cooperation with industrial partners, they contribute to the development of new machines, production technologies and energy sources, thus helping Czech industry to maintain its competitiveness.

Last week, on 23 and 24 May, experts from all over the world met for the tenth time to discuss the topics of sustainable transport concepts, quality of life and other areas related to smart cities.

Acknowledgement for the University's contribution to the defence of the Czech Republic in the field of active reserve was received in Vyškov by the Rector of CTU doc. Vojtěch Petráček.

The first micro-certificate course organized by Faculty of Civil Engineering of Czech Technical University in Prague was successfully completed by 27 candidates. In the two-semester lifelong learning course "Technical building services for energy efficient and healthy buildings", they focused on the topic of technical systems of buildings in the context of the requirements of the new European Directive on the energy performance of buildings. The expert guarantor of the course was Prof. Karel Kabele from CTU Faculty of Civil Engineering, where lectures and practical teaching in laboratories also took place. The micro-certificate obtained by the graduates is a Europe-wide recognised document and if qualification requirements are needed for certain professions, the micro-certificate proves the person fullfills these requirements.

Sixteen Czech and Slovak electrical engineering and IT faculties founded the Alliance for Electrical Engineering and Informatics (Alliance) on Wednesday 15 May. The Alliance is headed by the Dean of Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (FEL ZČU) Zdeněk Peroutka. The aim of the Alliance will be, among other things, to increase the interest of secondary school students in the offered electrical engineering and IT fields and to mutually coordinate strategic research projects.

On the occasion of the first National Development Day of the Czech Republic on 25 April 2024, a project entitled Strengthening Capacity and Knowledge Transfer in higher education institutions (HEI's) for the Development of Affected Areas of Ukraine was also launched. The project will be implemented in 2024 by the Masaryk Institute of Advanced Studies of Czech Technical University in Prague, in particular the Institute of Public Administration and Regional Studies, in cooperation with the O. M. Beketov National University of Urban Economics in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Faculty of Information Technology of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU FIT) in cooperation with the University of Antwerp (UAntwerp) in Belgium presents the newly established Standardized Systems Laboratory (NSLab). The primary goal of this research facility will be to improve evolvability and sustainability in the ever-changing software development environment. The NSLab will be dedicated to the development and support of research in a variety of software solutions.

On 20 May, the National Centre for Industry 4.0, in cooperation with the FEI VŠB-TUO, ŠKODA AUTO a.s. and the Technological Literacy platform, welcomed almost two hundred students from primary and secondary schools in Ostrava as part of an educational event on modern technologies. The day-long programme included not only an interactive lecture on the practical use of new technologies, but also a guided tour of the CPIT TL3 Testbed and its Smart Factory Lab and Mobility Lab sections. Here, experts showed the young people the technology in practice and who knows, maybe some of them will come back in a few years as students at one of the faculties. To increase technological literacy, but also to strengthen interest in technical education was the goal of the event, which is now in its third year in Prague. Today for the first time also in Ostrava.