The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic awarded four Czech projects of applied research, funded by the Agency, for their positive impact on the economy and the quality of life.

The winner of the category Solutions for better quality of life and of the Award for the solution of the future: Optimization of UHMWPE properties (Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene). UHMWPE extends lifespan of human joint replacements, for example. As a by-product of the project, a simulation tool for ageing of joints was developed. (Research partnership: the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry (IMC) and the Charles University (UK), orthopedic surgeons at Motol Faculty hospital, Praha (FN Motol), and TJR manufacturers from company Beznoska s.r.o., Kladno (Beznoska Ltd).

The winner of the category Contribution to the economy: Physical and metallurgical aspects of preparation of cast metallic foams from iron alloys and alloys of non-ferrous metals. Metallic foams have properties of metal, but their weight is much lower and they can be used in the automotive, aviation, construction, or ship-building industries, among others. Within the project, twelve ways of metallic foam production were developed. (Research partnership: Department of Metallurgy and Foundry Engineering, Faculty of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Slévárna a modelárna Nové Ransko, s.r.o.)

The winner of the category Usefulness of the solution: Speech Processing For Effective Human – Computer Communication Technology – TŘPIT. The goal of the project was to develop advanced techniques for speech recognition and deploy them in practical applications: searching in electronic vocabulary on mobile devices, translations dictation, in security and defense, in dialog systems, Customer Relationship Managements systems (CRM, helpdesk, etc.), and in audiovisual approach to learning materials.  (Research partnership: Brno University of Technology, Lingea s.r.o., Phonexia s.r.o., Optimsys s.r.o.)

The winner of the category Originality of the solution: Modern multilayer optical systems - resilient, technically complex, cost-effective, reliable performance in adverse weather conditions. The systems can be used in medicine, mobile technologies, film and photography, or logistics, for example. (Research partnership: Palacký University in Olomouc, Meopta-optika, Ltd., Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences).

Read more details, view videos (in Czech) here.