Reports

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček visited the University Center of Energy Efficient Buildings of the Czech Technical University, from where scientists will send the SAWER system to Dubai, which will become the core of the Czech national pavilion at the EXPO 2020 world exhibition During his visit, the minister got to know the activities of the center. He appreciated the technical advancement of the S.A.W.E.R system and the merits of its creators in spreading the good name of domestic science and the whole Czech Republic abroad.

For the ninth time, the Association of Energy Services Providers announced the results of the competition for the best upcoming energy saving project of the year. CTU in Prague won first place for its revitalization in 9 CTU campuses. The expert jury consisting of Vladimír Sochor (MIT), Petr Holub (Chance for Buildings) and Martin Sedlák (Association of Modern Energy) appreciated the complexity of the EPC's largest ever project, where one third of the costs will be covered by the OPE. This includes not only energy-saving measures in thirty buildings throughout Prague, but also insulation and replacement of windows for a total of 220 million crowns. These will be repaid gradually from contractually guaranteed energy savings, which amount to 20.5 million crowns per year for eleven years.

On January 21 in Bethlehem Chapel professor Wolfgang Wahlster was awarded an honorary title doctor honoris causa during ceremonial assembly of the Scientific Council of CTU in Prague. Professor Wahlster is one of the most prominent figures of the German artificial intelligence and a scientific god-father of Industry 4.0. He also contributed to its advancement to the Czech Republic. Since the 1990s he has supported Czech science and developed cooperation between Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics CTU (CIIRC) and one of the most prestigious institutions in the field of artificial intelligence - the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence, DFKI, which he founded and until recently led, now he acts there as a Chief Executive Advisor.

On 17 January 2020, a commemorative ceremony was held at the Jan Palach memorial plaque at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Jan Palach Square. Jan Palach set himself on fire on 16 January 1969 to protest against normalization, ie the suppression of freedoms by the Communist regime after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact troops in 1968. His memorial was honored by CTU in Prague by laying flowers on the plaque.

From January 2020, the newly established RICAIP Center (Czech acronym for the Research and Innovation Center for Advanced Industrial Production) at the Czech Institute of Computer Science, Robotics and Cybernetics of CTU in Prague will be led by German scientist Tilman Becker, a leading expert on Industry 4.0. He comes to the Czech Republic from the German DFKI, one of the most important research institutions focused on artificial intelligence, where he worked for almost 25 years. Within the RICAIP project, it will lead the RICAIP center, which is built to manage and use testbed research infrastructures not only among partners, but later also across Europe. It wants to further develop the latest technologies focused on the use of artificial intelligence in industrial robotics with direct applications in production. Tilman Becker has been recommended for the RICAIP International Director by international comittee in the autumn of last year.

The CTU Faculty of Biomedical Engineering acquired a new building in Kladno in the area of the former barracks. The current two buildings of the Faculty, seven-storey building at nám. Sítná and existing rented two-storey building in the Barracks on Sportovců Street are no longer sufficient for the faculty.

Four renowned architects have published three different publications capturing their work. They are connected not only by the same publishing house, but above all by their love for architecture, unique view and style, and also that all of them, apart from their rich architectural practice, teach at the Institute of Design I of the Faculty of Architecture.

For 20 years, the Vytopna Zlíchov Association has been trying to save and renovate several steam and motor locomotives and passenger and freight wagon. Most of the repairs and production of parts are done by themselves, but they are also helped by specialists with exceptional qualifications from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague.

On 18 December, 69 new professors received their appointment decrees from the hands of Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Robert Plaga at the Carolinum. They were nominated for the highest academic degree by scientific and artistic councils of universities, and are appointed by the president. Five new professors will now work at CTU in Prague, namely at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Architecture.

In December, the scientific team of Associate Professor Zdeněk Hurák from the Department of Control Engineering at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, together with volunteers, tested what would happen if a multi-car column was created on the road. The experiment showed that the random sample of cars on Czech roads using the ACC will behave qualitatively the same as in the case of human drivers - ie unjustified (phantom) traffic jams will occur.