Head of the Department of Technical Studies Radek Kolman became an associate professor

Director of the Department of Technicalých Studiesí VŠPJ doc. Ing. Radek Kolman, Ph.D., works in his rá academicé field in addition to the šcolleges of polytechnicé Jihlava asé lecturer of theé subject Numericalé methods in mechanics at the Faculty of Transporté CTU in Prague. In November 2022, he defended his habilitation thesis Advanced Numerical Methods for Modelsáí &scaron& í at this faculty; elasticý&waves in solidý&tissueá&and dynamicý&contact&problems. On the basis of the ú&scaroné&defense, he passed the habilitation´&examination& and on December 1, 2022 was appointed associate professor in Repairé&systems&and&technology.

Doc. Ing. Radek Kolman, Ph.D., photo source: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

Radek Kolman was born in 1977 in Pelhřimov. He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague in the Master's degree programme Applied Mechanics. In 2009 he completed his doctoral studies  which he mostly completed under the supervision of experts in computational mechanics of the state of thermomechanics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. At this workšti and aboveále he actsá as an independentý scientificý worker and leads a group consisting mainly of students focusing oná;students focusing on the multiphysics of electroactive materials, dynamic behaviour of materials and stress waves. As a member of theýmu, ašitel and ašitel, heálálá onáená projects fromápositiveá andáapplicationá research. He is also working as a member of the ESA project on the development of a special optical component for the LISA mission.

During his professional life, he has had a&scaron´ and aý numberá ofá Greek´ internships at Agrostroj Pelhřimov, a.s., and several foreigná countries in Southá Korea and short&scaroná stays in&scaroná Spain, Germany and Estonia. He has organized many Czech and international conferences in the field of mechanics and problems of waves in flexible bodies. He collaborates with theštions in theámce of the CAS and with a number ofštions of Czechýand foreignýuniversities.

After scientificé strá he has long been working on the problem of &scaroná stressá waves in solids. In thisé area, he focuses on numericalé methods and experimentá iný research in conjunctioná with advancedý materialsá and bodies madeá by 3D printing from aý range ofá materials. Dále is nowá dealing with the issue of breedingá electroactiveá materials and metamaterials made by 3D printing for applications focused on 3D printing; to collect electrical energy from motion, mechanical response of bodies, dynamic behaviour of periodic structures, sensor and deformation sensors.

Since 2018, Radek Kolman has been working as an academic member of the Department of Technical Studies at VŠPJ and has been involved in the teaching of Mechanics III, Mechanics of Systems of Bodies, Fluid Mechanics and Thermomechanics. He was appointed Head of the Department of Technical Studies on 25 July 2022, taking over from the current Rector, Zdeněk Horá, whose work and that of his predecessors is fully continued. At the VŠPJ he develops újí especiallyé on the issue of soft robotics including the study of úchopé mechanics of bodies made of smart materials. It also focuses on the development of artificial muscles made of hydrogels and other materials suitable for these bodies. Theý&level&of&his&tenure&as&head&of&the&department&is&a&long&termý&and& strategicý&development&of&technicalý&study&programs&respecting&the¤tá&needs&of&the®ion. It supports the dynamic development of the region e.g. in the field of Industry 4.0., big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the introduction of new trends in informatics including;cí useí of clouds, predictiveí ú possession, sensorsá of the state of construction, use´ of modern´ and smartá materials. It also focuses on intensive cooperation with industrial and technological partners and on activities in the field of scientific and applied research.

Radek Kolman places great emphasis on the quality of the Bachelor's and Master's degree programme in Applied Technology for Industrial Practice, of which he is the guarantor. He is also responsible for further expansion of the follow-up Master's programmes of the Department of Technical Studies. In rárámce of itséactivity´ supports the cooperation in the Erasmus+ programme and the openingé of the laboratory for students of VŠPJ, students of secondaryácolleges and the public. It is also dedicated to supporting independent student activities, the establishment of student theses or the possibility of doctoral studies for graduates and academic staff of VŠPJ at other universitiesšcolleges.

One of the priorities of doc. Kolman's priority is the development of experimentaláln´ and inýnumber´ of equipment of individualýlaboratories´. A separate part of the activity is the promotion of theýzených study programmes, cooperation with secondary šcolleges of the region in the form of sdí He provides soé hisé personal&experiencešence with theádán´m ofán -conferences´ and workshops, summer´šcolleges and courses for students and privateé entities and theéright projects fromápositiveá, applicationá and contractáresearch inýtheédepartment of&technicalýstudies&and&theé VŠPJ.