TRADITION UPGRADED THROUGH INNOVATION

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Bruce Sullivan
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1 TRADITION UPGRADED THROUGH INNOVATION

Its tradition goes back to 1899 when emperor František Josef I issued a certificate founding a Czech university of technology. At the beginning there were 4 professors and 47 students.

2 PROFILE BUT was among the first two universities in the Czech Republic to receive the prestigious ECTS and DS Labels. Brno University of Technology (BUT) can boast being the oldest Czech university in Moravia. Its tradition goes back to 1899 when emperor František Josef I issued a certificate founding a Czech university of technology. At the beginning there were 4 professors and 47 students. In more than 115 years, the university has managed to become an internationally respected educational, scientific and research institution. Today it has 8 faculties and 3 university institutes. Its services and facilities are available to about 24 thousand students. The range of courses offered is very wide and includes technical, natural scientific, economic, and artistic fields. Most university buildings are situated at the Pod Palackého vrchem campus in Královo Pole. There you can find new premises of the faculties of business and management and electrical engineering and communication as well as one of the most modern sports grounds in Central Europe. Apart from construction of new buildings, BUT also focuses on restoring the old ones. The Carthusian monastery, for example, received a modern look being architecturally joined to the new premises of the Faculty of Information Technology. According to QS World University Rankings, BUT regularly belongs to the best world universities. In appreciation of its good quality, BUT received, as one of the first in the Czech Republic, the ECTS and DS Label certificates of the European Commission. These certificates help increase student and teacher mobility accelerating the university internationalization. The ECTS label (European Credit Transfer System) is an appreciation of the correct application of the credit system to all Bachelor s and Master s programmes to fulfil the objectives of the Bologna process. The DS Label (Diploma Supplement) certifies that the diploma supplements received by the graduates free of charge are correct. BRNO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 3

UNIVERSITY STRUCTURE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE FACULTY OF

FINE ARTS www.fa.vutbr.cz www.fch.vutbr.cz www.fit.vutbr.cz www.ffa.

www.feec.vutbr.cz CENTRE OF SPORTS ACTIVITIES www.cesa.

3 UNIVERSITY STRUCTURE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE FACULTY OF CHEMISTRY FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FACULTY OF FINE ARTS FACULTY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT CENTRAL EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (CEITEC) FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMMUNICATION CENTRE OF SPORTS ACTIVITIES FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC ENGINEERING 4 5

EDUCATION GRADUATES Brno University of Technology offers three degree program levels Bachelor s, Master s and doctoral full-time and combined courses.

The students are equipped with knowledge and skills that make them competitive in rapidly changing global labour markets.

The Lifelong Learning Institute offers students various educational seminars and career and psychological counselling.

4 EDUCATION GRADUATES Brno University of Technology offers three degree program levels Bachelor s, Master s and doctoral full-time and combined courses. BUT has almost 80 accredited programmes, 19 of which are taught in English. These include theoretical and practical courses in engineering, architecture, fine arts and economics. The students are equipped with knowledge and skills that make them competitive in rapidly changing global labour markets. The school also offers cross-faculty studies and the possibility of taking double-degree and joint-degree programmes with partner universities. The Lifelong Learning Institute offers students various educational seminars and career and psychological counselling. BUT also takes care of senior citizens offering them courses at its Third Age University to help them remain socially active. BUT has long been monitoring what jobs are offered to its graduates through student surveys. In the last years, the proportion of unemployed graduates has generally been under 2% in the last five years. According to the last survey of graduates, almost 50% of students find a job even before graduation. The fact that 9 out of 10 students would choose BUT again (if they were given a chance) is proof of their satisfaction. Besides receiving feedback from the graduates, BUT also cooperates with managers of the companies where the graduates work. Representatives of these companies can also be actively involved in establishing the degree programme structure providing consultancy and even teaching courses. In this way, they help educate another generation of their potential successful employees. Some faculties organize career fairs and company days where students meet their potential employers to get new ideas about their prospective jobs. 6 7

COOPERATION WITH BUSINESS RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Apart from providing its student with a theoretical background, each modern university needs to cooperate with the application sphere, too.

That is why BUT cooperates with companies in the Czech Republic and also abroad such as Honeywell, IBM, Bosch, Siemens, ABB, FEI, Škoda Auto, E.ON, ČEZ and others.

The Marabu pilotless aircraft, the VUT SUPER EL II electric car, the aeration towers in the Brno Reservoir, etc. can serve as particular examples.

5 COOPERATION WITH BUSINESS RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Apart from providing its student with a theoretical background, each modern university needs to cooperate with the application sphere, too. This is especially important for research to help apply the scientific inventions in practice. That is why BUT cooperates with companies in the Czech Republic and also abroad such as Honeywell, IBM, Bosch, Siemens, ABB, FEI, Škoda Auto, E.ON, ČEZ and others. As a research university, BUT can offer know-how with the industry companies participating in joint projects by providing their technical facilities. The Marabu pilotless aircraft, the VUT SUPER EL II electric car, the aeration towers in the Brno Reservoir, etc. can serve as particular examples. The first contact place for companies that would like to cooperate with BUT is the Technology Transfer Off ice. Its role is to support the commercial use of the inventions designed at the university, thus supporting the school development and contributing to the region s innovation potential and economic growth. Companies that show interest in starting cooperation with BUT are offered consultation and support in searching for a suitable partner, information regarding the use of national and European grants for cooperation with a university, representation of the company at the university and many other services. Brno University of Technology performs clearly defined and applied research in many areas, such as: Aviation Engineering Advanced Polymer and Ceramic Materials Image Scanning and Processing Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Environmental Technology Civil and Mechanical Structure Designs Production Technology Material Engineering Information and Communication Technology Nanotechnology and Microelectronics Process and Chemical Engineering etc. 8 9

Solar corona Electric car Plastics made from used oil Lacquer substitute for dental enamel The image of the solar corona published on the cover of the prestigious magazine Nature was taken and

The photograph was created by mathematically processing several tens of images taken during the total sun eclipse in Mongolia.

The autonomy range is 170 km on the highway and 220 km on country roads. The maximum speed is 176 kph. This EV can be charged in 20 minutes by 40kW charger for next 100km ride.

to store and dispose of. From this waste material, scientists can produce PHA biopolymers.

Scientists at the BUT Faculty of Chemistry and CEITEC have developed ultra-hard lacquer that can be used to replace natural dental enamel.

6 Solar corona Electric car Plastics made from used oil Lacquer substitute for dental enamel The image of the solar corona published on the cover of the prestigious magazine Nature was taken and subsequently processed by a team headed by Prof. Miloslav Druckmüller from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The photograph was created by mathematically processing several tens of images taken during the total sun eclipse in Mongolia. Marabu BUT obtained a Škoda Superb II car from Škoda Auto company to convert it into full electric vehicle. The result is the VUT SUPER EL II car that received certification for road in The autonomy range is 170 km on the highway and 220 km on country roads. The maximum speed is 176 kph. This EV can be charged in 20 minutes by 40kW charger for next 100km ride. Cleaning reservoirs using cavitation A team of researchers at the Centre of Materials Research of the BUT Faculty of Chemistry have found a method of reusing used deep-fry oil which is very difficult to store and dispose of. From this waste material, scientists can produce PHA biopolymers. Products made from these have a unique advantage of decomposing spontaneously within months, thus having no negative effect on the environment like the usual plastics. Scientists at the BUT Faculty of Chemistry and CEITEC have developed ultra-hard lacquer that can be used to replace natural dental enamel. The lacquer can also limit the microbial plaque forming on teeth to achieve the desired tooth whiteness for a long time and without the negative side effects of the current teeth whitening methods. Detecting diseases by analysing speech Prof. Píštěk s team from the Institute of Aerospace Engineering of the BUT Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is concerned with the development of a pilotless aircraft for civil use monitoring floods, checking power lines, and protecting borders. Students also participated in the aircraft development and the whole team was awarded with Zlatá medaile (golden medal) at the International Engineering Fair in Brno. Robots ORPHEUS robots developed at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication are intended for exploration of areas that are inaccessible or dangerous for people. The robot can move in contaminated areas, for example, and use a camera to scan the surroundings transmitting the images wirelessly to the operator. In this way, the operator can watch from a safe distance what is happening in the space explored. The idea of cleaning reservoirs without the use of chemical agents emerged at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. BUT experts came up with a unique method of cyanobacteria removal using cavitation and destratification. It is being used to clean the Brno Reservoir using aeration towers. Microscope A unique BUT multimodal holographic microscope is protected by an EU patent with similar procedures drawing to a close in other countries. As opposed to the classic instruments, this device makes it possible to watch living cells without using contrast agents, which themselves may influence the cells properties and behaviour. Another advantage of this microscope is that to light the material observed no laser is needed, which may spoil the resulting image, as the usual light sources are sufficient. Photovoltaic textiles Putting a mobile phone in your pocket only to take it out fully charged a few moments afterwards? Such could also be the result of the research done by the scientists of the Centre of Materials Research at the BUT Faculty of Chemistry. All this was initiated by the development of what is called smart materials polymers modified to have the properties of semiconductors. Because of being soluble, they can be used for producing inks or other pigments to be then applied to textiles by printing or coating. Scientists at the BUT Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication and the SIX centre work on a computer program that can detect some neurological diseases by analysing speech. Human speech changes due to a neurological disease and, in some cases, may become a useful indicator similar to a blood sample. The program can, for instance, detect Parkinson s disease even at its early stage

RESEARCH CENTRES Apart from education, the university especially focuses on scientific and research activities.

Some of the centres were created on BUT premises to use the research and scientific potential of the university and its faculties (regional research centres).

cz CEITEC is a project of the central European centre of scientific excellence in Brno. It pursues research into living nature, advanced materials and technologies.

7 RESEARCH CENTRES Apart from education, the university especially focuses on scientific and research activities. It participates in the activities of several research centres whose foundation was supported by grants from operation programmes of the European Union. Some of the centres were created on BUT premises to use the research and scientific potential of the university and its faculties (regional research centres). Others are developed by BUT together with other universities and research institutes (centres of excellence). Centres of Excellence CEITEC (Central European Institute of Technology) CEITEC is a project of the central European centre of scientific excellence in Brno. It pursues research into living nature, advanced materials and technologies. Four universities and two research institutes participate in the project. The research is carried out in 7 areas with BUT being responsible for the first two. 1. Advanced nanotechnologies and microtechnologies 2. Advanced materials 3. Structural biology 4. Genomics and proteomics of plant systems 5. Molecular medicine 6. Brain and mind research 7. Molecular veterinary medicine IT4Innovations The IT4Innovations project aims to build a centre to help develop a number of IT related fields. Part of the project is the purchase of a high-performance supercomputer which should rank among 100 most powerful ones in the world. Four universities and one research institute will participate in the project. The research will aim at improving the quality of society through modern information technologies, supercomputer calculations to solve industry problems, modelling in natural sciences and nanotechnologies, the development of new non-traditional computing methods, etc. IT4People IT for Disaster and Traffic Management ultimedia Information Recognition and Presentation SC4Industry Numerical Modelling for Engineering Libraries for Parallel Computing Modelling for Nanotechnologies Theory4IT IT for Knowledge Management Soft Computing Methods with Supercomputer Applications Secure and Safe Architectures, Networks and Protocols 12 13

Regional Research Centres NE TME (New Technologies for Mechanical Engineering) www.netme.

Aircraft and automotive technology 3. Mechatronics 4. Virtual machine design and testing 5. Advanced metallic materials AdMaS (Advanced Materials, Structures and Technologies) www.admas.eu 1.

cz The SIX research centre was established as part of the BUT Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication.

near future. 1. Microwave technologies 2. Wireless technologies 3. Converged systems 4. Multimedia systems 5. Sensor systems CVVOZE (Centre of Research and Use of Renewable Sources of Energy) www.

8 Regional Research Centres NE TME (New Technologies for Mechanical Engineering) NETME is a research and development centre based on the research base of the BUT Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. 1. Power, process and environmental engineering 2. Aircraft and automotive technology 3. Mechatronics 4. Virtual machine design and testing 5. Advanced metallic materials AdMaS (Advanced Materials, Structures and Technologies) 1. Advanced building materials 2. Advanced structures and technologies SIX (Sensor, Information and Communication Systems) The SIX research centre was established as part of the BUT Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication. The main field of interest is generating, radiating, spreading, receiving and processing communication signals in the GHz, GHz and GHz bands, which will be used intensively in the near future. 1. Microwave technologies 2. Wireless technologies 3. Converged systems 4. Multimedia systems 5. Sensor systems CVVOZE (Centre of Research and Use of Renewable Sources of Energy) A research centre established as part of the BUT Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication whose research team will focus on chemical and photovoltaic sources of energy, electrical mechanics, technology, power engineering, propulsion, mobile robots and industry electronics. Apart from the research itself, the centre will also focus on increasing cooperation of the university with the application sphere and accelerating the transfer of new technologies to practical applications. 1. Electromechanical energy conversion 2. Chemical and photovoltaic energy 3. Generation, transmission, distribution and use of electrical energy Materials Research Centre The Materials Research Centre of the BUT Faculty of Chemistry conducts research in inorganic materials that can be used in the silicate industry, and in biologically active materials and sensors on the basis of organic materials usable in diagnostics, medicine or general healthcare. 1. Inorganic materials 2. Advanced organic materials and biomaterials A new comprehensive research centre was established as part of the BUT Faculty of Civil Engineering. It concentrates on research, development, and testing of new building materials on organic and inorganic basis with emphasis on the multifunctional ones

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION SERVICES FOR STUDENTS The university s long-term plan is to strengthen its position among the leading internationally respected research universities.

To be able to achieve this aim, BUT undertakes activities aiming not only at recruiting more international students, but also at creating suitable working conditions for scientists and teachers from

BUT has signed many international general contracts participating regularly in international educational trade fairs being a member of EUA (European University Association).

) and students can take part in joint- and double-degree programmes which allow them to spend some time studying abroad.

9 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION SERVICES FOR STUDENTS The university s long-term plan is to strengthen its position among the leading internationally respected research universities. International cooperation is, therefore, one of the strategic priorities of Brno University of Technology. To be able to achieve this aim, BUT undertakes activities aiming not only at recruiting more international students, but also at creating suitable working conditions for scientists and teachers from abroad. With respect to international cooperation, a good quality and broader partner base is essential. That is why the university focuses on cooperation with both European and non-european partners. BUT has signed many international general contracts participating regularly in international educational trade fairs being a member of EUA (European University Association). The university is engaged in educational programmes (Erasmus+, CEEPUS, Aktion, EEA and Norway Grants, etc.) and students can take part in joint- and double-degree programmes which allow them to spend some time studying abroad. BUT is also involved in the SoMoPro project, whose aim is, among others, to increase the number of international scientists at Brno universities. This should also be helped by the new scientific centres established with the support of EU funds. All of these activities significantly contribute to the school internationalization. BUT has the highest capacity of accommodation beds of all Brno universities. It can accommodate students in 5 halls of residence, most of them at the Pod Palackého vrchem campus. Almost all services are located in its vicinity canteens, sports campus and a university club. Two BUT accommodation facilities were among the TOP 3 in the competition for the best halls of residence, which testifies to their good quality. The university also has many catering facilities available both to students and employees. Apart from the usual canteens with modern equipment, there are snack bars, cafés, a pizzeria and a club. In the canteens, people can choose from up to 12 meals every day. BUT has also very good facilities for sports activities and is thus able to offer students about 50 different sports at 5 performance levels. Sporting sites with modern equipment are used not only by students. Sport matches are also held here and the facilities are rented by sports clubs. The Pod Palackého vrchem campus is unique especially thanks to its facilities for disabled athletes. In addition, athletic surfaces, which have obtained first class IAAF certificate (the only one in the Czech Republic), now match the Olympic quality

STAY IN TOUCH www.facebook.com/brnouniversityoftechnology www.vutbr.

cz 18 BRNO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Published by Brno University of

10 STAY IN TOUCH BRNO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Published by Brno University of Technology in Editors: International Relations Department, BUT Rectorate. Design and DTP: Vojtěch Lunga

IT4Innovations. National Research Center for Computing

IT4Innovations. National Research Center for Computing IT4Innovations National Research Center for Computing Prof. Ivo Vondrak ivo.vondrak@vsb.cz Partners: VSB Technical University of Ostrava University of Ostrava Silesian University in Opava Academy of Sciences