Our first visitors were students from the Private Gymnasium Železiarne Podbrezová. We welcomed them with an interactive program full of knowledge challenges and fun tasks as part of the lecture doc. Erika Hodúlová learned the basics about metals - from their acquisition, through the wide range of uses, to how we work with them at our institute. After the theoretical part, the students visited our laboratories, where they learned how we work with microscopes, and we explained to them how they help us research different types of materials.
After theory, it's time to use theoretical knowledge in practice! We prepared a fun "I didn't break challenge" for the students, where they had to wrap an egg to survive the fall from the 1st floor. Some eggs survived, others turned into a pile of shells. The tense atmosphere could be cut before throwing the packets, but we all enjoyed unforgettable moments. The winners received the honorary title of "Unbreakable of the Year". After this challenge, we also showed the students a powder metallurgy demonstrator where they could press their candies. At the same time, they learned how car parts, dental implants, and other technical miracles are produced using this technology.
In addition to these activities, we also visited the students of the Faculty of Special Technology at the Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín in Trenčín. Students in the 2nd and 3rd years of bachelor's studies listened to two lectures by our colleagues:
In the lecture "From material research to the use of key technologies for circular economy and sustainability in space", Dr. Naďa Beronská explained how material research contributes to sustainability on Earth and beyond.
Dr. Tomáš Dvorák focused on the innovative use of copper and tungsten composites in the lecture "Current areas of high-temperature applications as new possibilities of using the classic Cu/W composite". Both lectures aroused great interest and motivated future Slovak engineers and researchers to search for new solutions.
We dedicated the end of the week to visitors from the Ukrainian Institute, who came to the SAS for the first time and visited several institutes. We were glad that they showed interest in the work of Slovak researchers and gladly participated in the tasks we had prepared for them.
At the end of this busy week, we can say that science and physics are not only helpful but also fun! We look forward to further meetings with students and believe that we have succeeded in inspiring some of them to become scientists or engineers in the future.
The world of science awaits!