Technical Olympiad of the Pilsen Region and UWB Attracted More Than a Hundred High School Students

Competition Cooperation High school students

From an aid for the visually impaired to transparent concrete. At the 13th Regional Technical Olympiad, secondary school students presented and defended their projects before an expert jury.

The Technical Olympiad of the Pilsen Region is one of the region's key student projects. In cooperation with the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, the regional authority has long supported the development of technical education at secondary schools. The competition is open to secondary school students from across the Pilsen Region, who work in teams of two to four students from the same school. Under the guidance of a teacher, each team tackles a technical assignment prepared by experts from the University of West Bohemia. During their work, students go through several stages, ranging from theoretical preparation combined with practical experimentation to the creation of physical and virtual models.

The competition is divided into two categories: one for grammar schools and another for other types of secondary schools. All projects were developed exclusively within individual school teams, though students could consult their work with teachers from their schools and with experts from the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. According to the regional authority, this close connection between the secondary school environment and the academic sphere has long been one of the main benefits of the Olympiad.

One of the projects presented was The Sixth Sense by a team from the Sports Grammar School in Pilsen, Antonín Kirpal and Oliver Vaněček. “It is an aid for the visually impaired that can scan the surroundings and indicate how far away obstacles are. Using an integrated camera and artificial intelligence, it is able to describe what is around you,” explained Oliver Vaněček. “When we were building this prototype, our biggest obstacle was the software. We faced several technical issues, including components not communicating with each other and power outages. We were dealing with these problems for almost the entire two weeks before the competition,” Antonín Kirpal described the final stages of the project.

Other awarded projects included a Hybrid Model for Pneumonia Detection, Transparent Concrete in Architecture, E-textiles, and a Ping Pong Robot. An essential part of the Technical Olympiad of the Pilsen Region was not only the technical solution itself, but also the presentation of results to an expert jury composed of university representatives. Students thus gained experience that goes far beyond standard classroom teaching. “The Technical Olympiad is not just about finding the right solution. It is equally important to present and defend your project and to listen to expert feedback. During these presentations, students learn to work with mistakes or shortcomings they might not notice on their own. This is an experience they carry with them into further studies, their careers, and everyday life,” said Vladimír Kroc, Deputy Governor of the Pilsen Region.

Interest in the Technical Olympiad of the Pilsen Region has been steadily growing, according to the regional authority. While around ten secondary schools participated in the early years of the competition, sixteen schools registered this year. A total of 51 projects were submitted, involving more than 120 students. The students presented their projects at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of West Bohemia, where the organizers also announced the winners.

A full list of projects, including the student teams, can be found on the Pilsen Region’s website.