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What do a mechanical engineer, an economist, a medical professional and a designer have in common? This is not the start of a joke, but an inter-faculty competition that focuses on finding solutions to technology problems for projects commissioned from specific companies in the region.  On Thursday 24 April, students and teachers gathered at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (FST UWB) to conclude the 21st year of the DESING+ student competition and the first year of its more advanced variant DESING².

Engel, a company that manufactures injection moulding machines, was looking for a way to improve a small material sorter with originally plastic parts in its operation. It therefore turned to students at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, who worked from September to April on a new mechanism that is more precise, easier to operate and suited to food and healthcare operations thanks to its stainless steel components and telescopic extension. The project was developed as part of the DESING² competition, which is open to advanced students at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from this year. "It's a great motivation for us. It is possible that some of our team will be interested in meeting with the company's representatives and see what we can offer each other," said Matěj Bařtipán from FST.

On the other hand, the traditional DESING+ project has already involved not only engineers, but also students of design, health studies or economics. They worked in six teams in the competition, and half of them made it to the final in April.

Among the successful projects was a new cryogenic container holder for Streicher, which improves safety and clarity when storing and preserving, for example, living cells and tissues at very low temperatures. “The assignment was quite loose and required creativity in addition to the right technical solution,” described Andriana Kuflik from the Faculty of Economics and Martin Bláha from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

The students, who were working on a project for Otto Bock ČR, presented a therapeutic play cube for children aged 3-5. The cube is designed to help children train their grasp with the help of a prosthesis, is made of natural material and allows children to develop motor skills. “It feels good to know that we can help someone with this project, specifically children with myoprosthesis,” said Jan Popelka. “We started from Montessori toys so that the final product would not be too expensive and would be simple,” added Vojtěch Malinský, both from FST.

The final presentation was in English. In addition to experts from the companies, partners from the German Technische Hochschule Deggendorf also attended. "Although our projects are not yet completely finished, we have decided to present some of them today. This time, the students focused on the extraction, use and storage of energy using electricity or heat in the Bavarian Forest and the Bohemian Forest. It is good to meet each other. Cross-border contacts should deepen more, for example we are here in your country in two hours and you are here in ours," said Vilém Dostál, lecturer at the Technische Hochschule Deggendorf.

Both competitions link learning with practice and develop skills that will be useful in future employment - from teamwork to technical thinking. In addition, a new innovation called DESING² focuses on a deeper understanding of complex problems. "When I started at UWB many years ago, there was a lack of interdisciplinary collaboration, so the idea of creating this workshop was born. In that time, more than 35 industrial partners have joined in," explained the competition's founder, Stanislav Hosnedl. In the twenty years of its existence, dozens of companies and hundreds of students have been involved. The co-founder of the competition, Josef Dvořák from FST, added that every year other faculties of the university can join the new projects and contribute their point of view and expertise to the projects.

You can see more photos from the workshop here.