Czech milling champion made a bike model for the president and handed it to him at the Prague Castle

It weighs almost two kilos, measures 20 cm and is made of aluminum alloy. Czech President Petr Pavel received the milled bike model on 26 November from its author, CNC milling champion and UWB engineering student Jiří Hruška. The handover was part of a meeting with young technicians.

At the EuroSkills international championship, where Jiří earned his spot two years ago by winning the national CNC milling competition, he was tasked with programming and machining a motorcycle model. Many contestants struggled with the demanding assignment. “Once you’re in action, everything changes. Your mind races, time slips away and the nerves kick in,” said the student, who focuses on machining technology in his bachelor’s studies. “It simply didn’t turn out the way I imagined, so I made it my goal to build that bike one day,” he added.

At the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, he had the right conditions for his plan. Jiří had trained for both the national and international competitions in the facilities of the RTI research center alongside its specialists. The entire production process, from the first ideas to the finished model, took roughly half a year. “I figured, why not make it straight away as a gift for the most famous biker in the country right now,” Jirka said with a smile. What began as a bold idea eventually became his main motivation to see the project through. Meanwhile, thanks to cooperation with the Czech Chamber of Commerce, a meeting for this year’s Czech EuroSkills team with President Petr Pavel was arranged. The plan was clear: the meeting at the Castle would be the perfect chance to hand over the motorcycle.

According to the dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Jirka’s story proves that the University of West Bohemia always supports talented students who achieve excellent results. “Thanks to top-tier equipment, we’ve been able to become the training center for national CNC milling champions preparing for the European EuroSkills competition. We’ve been working in machining technology for many years, and it’s one of the areas where we’ve traditionally been strong,” added Dean Vladimír Duchek. Soon, the faculty will begin training new milling champions for the next round of the competition.

EuroSkills is the largest European competition in craft, technical and technological fields for young professionals up to the age of 25. The participation of Czech contestants is organized by the Czech Chamber of Commerce. “We see the meeting at the Prague Castle as confirmation that the success of the Czech economy is tied to technical fields and that our future prosperity will continue to depend on skilled Czech hands and minds,” said Zdeněk Zajíček, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce.