News

The European Commission has announced the results of the EuroHPC European supercomputing initiative call for proposals. Among the successful applicants is the Czech Republic, specifically a consortium of six partners including the Brno University of Technology. Over the next three years, a new KarolAIna supercomputer will be installed at the IT4Innovations national supercomputing center in Ostrava. As part of the Czech AI Factory (CZAI) project, it will be complemented by a package of services provided by consortium experts, including consulting, models, and algorithms. The resulting infrastructure will serve a wide range of users, including industry, public administration, research teams, and start-ups.

According to Professor Jan Černocký from the Faculty of Information Technology at BUT, who coordinated the Brno University's involvement in the Czech AI Factory, the project has at least three significant benefits. "At a time when supercomputing is the bread and butter of any serious work in the field of artificial intelligence, the new supercomputer will enable Czech researchers and developers to keep pace with the world," says Černocký. Another benefit, according to him, is the fact that the funds earmarked for development and services related to CZAI will enable laboratory prototypes to be moved into production conditions and will help the Czech AI industry and public administration. Finally, according to Černocký, it should be emphasized that "the project itself will connect leading Czech workplaces from several top institutions." The Brno researcher also pointed out that BUT was involved in the creation of the IT4Innovations consortium, which built the first Czech supercomputer in Ostrava. In addition to Černocký, Professor Jiří Jaroš from FIT should also be mentioned, as he is responsible for the educational part of the project aimed at students, scientists, and industrial developers.
More information about the project, which will become the flagship of the Czech Republic's AI infrastructure, can be found in the press release.

For anyone considering studying IT and would like to know more about how things work at our faculty, we are preparing our traditional open house. Come and ask us anything you want to know about studying and life at FIT.

When? Wednesday, October 22. We start at 12:00. Our students will guide you through everything. In the introductory lecture, you will find out why it makes sense to study information technology and why you should choose FIT. You will learn practical information about the admission process, and at the end, there will be time for your questions.

The program will also include guided tours of the campus, laboratories, and other locations. You can look forward to mobile robots, demonstrations of rendering and 3D printing, an introduction to a project involving the processing of documents and photographs using artificial intelligence, and a tour of our IT museum. And because a major added value of studying at our faculty is the high level of interest that companies have in our graduates, we will also offer you the opportunity to meet potential future employers – the faculty's corporate partners.

And let's not forget: you will have the chance to test your IQ. And if you achieve a good result... we will waive the entrance exam.

Detailed information about the open house at FIT can be found here. We look forward to seeing you.

Astronomer and astrophysicist Carl Sagan once said: "We have created a global civilization whose most important elements are deeply dependent on science and technology. At the same time, we have arranged it so that almost no one understands science and technology. That is a recipe for disaster." Popularizing science is one way of trying to prevent this from happening. Since 2015, the Science and Technology Club, which operates at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Brno University of Technology, has been contributing to this effort.

This year, for the eleventh year in a row, it is preparing a rich program of popularization lectures for the public. There have been more than 100 lectures in total, including presentations by Prof. Petr Kulhánek (Milestones in Cosmology), Daniel Stach (Science Not Only for Scientists – Popularization of Science on Czech Television), and Tomáš Přibyl (War Through the Eyes of Spy Satellites).

This year, the lecture series will again feature researchers from our faculty. On Tuesday, October 14, at 6:00 p.m., Kamil Malinka will give a lecture on the security implications of deepfakes. Subsequently, on November 4, again on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., Lukáš Sekanina will talk about the "convergence of chips and AI" (lecture: Genetic Programming and Automated Hardware for AI).

The lectures will take place at FSI VUT (Technická 2), and attendance is free. Enthusiasts, scientists, students, and professionals in the natural sciences and technical fields are invited to attend.