Institute of Materials Science and Engineering

Teaching Profile

Bachelor degree and Master degree studies in materials engineering are oriented towards metallic materials and their alloys, ceramic materials and composites, materials for electrical industry, polymer materials inclusive of plastics and rubber, as well as glass and natural materials.

Scientific Profile

Research topics currently solved concern the areas of fundamental and applied research in the field of metallic and ceramic materials, and also the technologies applied in engineering, foundry, metallurgy, transport, and power generation industries. At present the research in IME is oriented such that it also implies the possibility of immediate application of obtained results in technical practice. These applications have a direct impact on increasing the quality of products and thus also on their price and competitiveness on the home market and, above all, on foreign markets. At present and also in the near future, research includes and will include the following pivotal areas and problems:

material-technological problems of the crystallization of aluminium alloys under pressure,

selected aspects of the preparation and properties of type TiAl intermetallic alloys,

the properties of type Mg-Li alloys and alloys of the same type dispersion-reinforced with carbon fibres,

the optimization of chemical composition and properties of selected nickel alloys for the aircraft industry,

problems of optimum choice of dynamically loaded structural materials and their weld joints,

selected problems of material-technological properties and application of ductile iron

prospective problems in the area of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies,

selected problems of the properties and application of ceramic and composite materials.

The common ground for the above research areas is provided by:

top-class equipment of the laboratories and other workplaces of the Institute, enabling the realization of complex material-technological analyses,

high scientific and technical standard of experiments, analyses and measurements,

the possibility of profound interpretation of the original results obtained. The missing elements of the complexly conceived research are continuously solved within the cooperation with universities in the Czech Republic and abroad and with institutes of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic.

Professional Collaboration

Imperial College London (UK), Department of Materials (Dr. Aldo R. Boccaccini) - cooperation in the field of advanced ceramic materials

Rolls & Royce, plc (Bristol, UK), Central Research & Development Foundry (Dr. Paul Withey) - cooperation in the field of interaction of ceramic materials and refractory materials

University of Novi Sad (Serbia), Department of Materials Engineering (Prof. Vl. Srdic) - cooperation in the field of nanoceramic materials

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (Switzerland), School of Engineering (Dr. Jan Van Herle) - cooperation in the field of ion conducting ceramics (fuel cells, oxygen membranes

Fraunhofer Institut Dresden (Germany), Institut für Technologien und Sinterwerkstoffe (Dr. Tassilo Moritz) - cooperation in the field of nanoceramic materials

CellTech Power, Inc. (Westborough, USA), Jack A. Shindle - cooperation in the field of fuel cells (setting up and testing)