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3D printing, patient care and robot control could be seen and often tried on their own skin by those who came to the Science and Technology Day at Masaryk Square in Rokycany on Thursday 12 June. Thanks to scientists and other experts from the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (UWB), it turned into an open classroom with dozens of stations. Faculties and research teams presented the technologies they use in teaching and research.

In the individual stands, scientists and researchers, as well as the students themselves, answered questions from young children and adults. "We presented archaeological finds and replicas, artifacts made of horn, antler, tooth or bone to interested visitors. The younger visitors were probably most interested in the replicas of prehistoric musical instruments, which they could try out, and we often talked with adults about various archaeological discoveries both in this country and abroad during the event," described Luboš Chroustovský from the Department of Archaeology.

Student Jiří Hruška from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering demonstrated various workpieces and machining methods: "We showed what we are able to create on today's CNC machines. The older students often asked us about the differences between the new technologies and traditional more or less manual production."

Tomáš Rada, the mayor of Rokycany, said just before the start of the event: "I am very glad that UWB chose Rokycany for this event and I look forward to our town joining the rotation where the Day of Science and Technology would be held here regularly once every three years. I will be glad if they will go to Pilsen rather than Prague." And which exhibition appealed to Tomáš Rada the most? “I am personally a graduate of the University of Engineering and Textiles in Liberec (today it is the Technical University, ed.), so today I will probably be closest to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, but I am of course curious about other faculties as well.”

Together with the Mayor of Rokycany, the Day of Science and Technology was also opened by the Vice-Rector for External Relations and Communication of UWB, Jan Váně. "I consider it the best thing ever that the traditional exhibitors of this event within the university are joined by others. If we want the next generation to come to study with us, we must come to them and we cannot rely on them coming to us. It is this idea that more and more departments of the various units are gradually adopting and I thank them for that," he said.

The mayor and the vice-chancellor of the university also had a friendly chat with each other right on the square in front of dozens of onlookers and cheerers. "We have a generator on the two treadmills which generates electricity. We consume that in light bulbs. Depending on how fast the visitors are going on the exercise bike, a certain number of bulbs are lit. The power on the treadmill is measured in 10 seconds, and anyone who has tried it here will probably confirm how hard it is to produce any power at all. Mr. Vice-Rector produced 390 watts during the race, Mr. Mayor 380," described the principle of the race Bohumil Skala from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

It was not only the electricity-generating treadmills that were under siege all day by children, students and adults alike: "We came from the Blovice gymnasium and we were most interested in the electricity-powered treadmills, where we measured our strength. The weather is good and the atmosphere is good," praised Šimon.

UWB also organises Science and Technology Days in other regions of the Pilsen Region. In Rokycany, the event took place for the first time and offered a space for children, students, parents and seniors to meet the world of science. The aim is to spread awareness of higher education beyond Pilsen in the long term. Moreover, the university's data shows that only less than three percent of students at ZČU come from the Rokycany region. The university's management is therefore trying to bring study opportunities closer to the regions and show that ZČU has something to offer to a wide range of applicants. In September, the Science and Technology Day of the University of Technology will return to Pilsen after a two-year break.