On Tuesday, November 16, 2021, researchers working on the project  Active NeIghborhoods energy Markets pArTicipatION  (ANIMATION) held a hybrid (live and virtual) dissemination event at FER with the aim to inform the public about the scope of the project and demonstrate how implementing household demand response market will activate households. The project leader, Hrvoje Pandžić , PhD, welcomed the the audience which was comprised of academics, researchers, industry experts, and other stakeholders who not only attended the live event but also joined the event remotely from various countries including India and Australia. In his introduction, prof. Pandžić showed the first set of laboratory equipment which was recently installed in the newly established Demand Response Lab , located within the Department of Energy and Power Systems. Once the equipment is connected to a household hub and interface, the laboratory will represent an active household whose electricity consumption will be managed in order to respond to signals from an aggregator or a power system operator.  Since the project has been underway for almost two years, the researchers were able to showcase the results of their work thus far. Nikolina Čović demonstrated a model for thermally controllable loads which takes into account user preferences and comfort. Ivan Pavić, PhD, presented his analysis of various operating regimes of an active commercial energy consumer with an integrated battery and rooftop PV, while his colleagues Hrvoje Bašić  and  Vedran Bobanac , PhD, presented a detailed charging model for lithium-ion batteries based on laboratory measurements. In her presentation, Marija Miletić explored what could motivate consumers to switch to a dynamic electricity pricing tariff and which incentives could encourage suppliers to offer attractive pricing models for their consumers. Our new researcher who joined the project team this Fall, Dr. Vivek Prakash , PhD, explained how frequency response acts to balance the demand and power supply upon frequency deviation. Furthermore, he presented the fast frequency control provision from active neighborhoods, noting some key facts (according to the EU Household Energy Consumption 2019) like the fact that about 40% of total demand in Europe are household applications with 64% of energy being used for heating homes. Additionally, Dr. Prakash justified the need for increased use of demand response given that (according to statistics from 2019) less than 2% of the global potential for demand response was being utilized. Based on a case study using geographically specific input data from two locations (the island of Vis in Croatia and the island Ærø in Denmark), researcher Lin Herenčić presented a techno-economic assessment of decarbonization pathways for multi-vector energy communities. Lastly, Karlo Šepetanc shared a cluster-based model for charging a single-depot fleet of electric vehicles which has excellent scalability and tractability and simultaneously determines a charging schedule and EV dispatch. Prof. Pandžić ended the event with closing remarks and invited the audience to visit the project website for more information on the project and to explore the publications related to the project.   Relevant links: Project website: https://animation.fer.hr/animation/en Laboratory website: https://drlab.fer.hr/ Croatian Science Foundation website: https://hrzz.hr/en/  

The graduation ceremonies for the Masters and Bachelors in Engineering of the 2020 generation took place on 18 and 19 September 2021 at the Student Centre in Zagreb. FER's Generation 2020 consists of more than 1,000 young professionals in the fields of electrical engineering, information and communication technologies, and computing, namely 481 Masters in Engineering, 558 Bachelors in Engineering, and 30 University Specialists. In addition to the graduates, numerous family members, friends and colleagues attended the ceremony and listened to an encouraging speech by the Dean of FER, Professor Gordan Gledec, Ph.D., at the beginning of the promotion. Industry representatives and distinguished FER alumni, the director of the Tehnozavod-Marušić d.o.o. company, Krešimir Marušić, and the director and founder of the Entrio tehnologije d.o.o. company, Berislav Marszalek, addressed our Masters of Engineering with inspiring words. During the promotions, the student representatives also addressed their colleagues: Valentina Fatorić, Mate Paulinović, Fran Milković, and Ivan Gredičak spoke to Masters in Engineering and Tin Župančić, Karlo Valentin Cihlar, Rino Čala, and Patrik Okanović to Bachelors in Engineering. You can watch a video of the ceremony on our YouTube channel ( BAs , Masters ), and photos are available here .

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing and the Biomimetics Lab of the Institute of Bioengineering of the University of Auckland have successfully conducted a transglobal experiment Underwater distance communication - from New Zealand to Croatia. The experiment was conducted as part of the "Advancing Diver-Robot Interaction Capabilities - ADRIATIC" project, funded by the Office of Naval Research Global (ONR Global). The goal of the trials was to test novel diver-robot interaction modalities developed within the project. The scenario consisted of a diver equipped with sensors embedded in the diving suit and a gesture recognizing diving glove in a pool in Auckland, and the D2 AUV in the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies - LABUST pool in Zagreb collaborating together. The diver used the smart diving glove to recognize gestures and send them acoustically to a poolside PC. The commands are then sent over a http server to a poolside PC in Zagreb and again translated to acoustic commands transmitted to the underwater vehicle. The vehicle executed simple movement actions mapped to these commands. The underwater cameras, as well as the cameras mounted in on the vehicle were streamed to Auckland to provide situational awareness, and the diver received a haptic feedback through the glove when a gesture was recognized and sent successfully. Considering the distance between ABI and LABUST laboratories and the current travel and collaboration restrictions in force, it was practically impossible to do a joint experiment in person. Introducing existing and new technologies towards enabling such remote collaboration experiences promotes equipment and infrastructure sharing and help crossing barriers standing in the way of science. The experiment Remote Underwater Communication - from New Zealand to Croatia is available here .  

Academic Ranking of World Universities, better known as the "Shanghai Ranking" , has published this year's rankings by scientific disciplines (GRAS), and the University of Zagreb is ranked among the most prestigious universities in as many as 12 disciplines . At the highest place stands out Maritime/Ocean Engineering (43rd place) , a discipline to which FER has made a significant contribution with its work in the field of marine robotics .

In late May, members of the Internet of Things Laboratory set up a real small garden in FER’s backyard as part of the IoT-Field project. Numerous sensors monitor the conditions for tomato and pepper seedlings planted by our University colleagues from the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb . While planting the seedlings, for the experiment we are conducting, part of the seedlings was enriched with the substrate. The aim is to determine the influence of the selected substrate through the collected data from the sensor, plant condition and yield. Given the effort and attention our garden has, we have no doubt of a rich harvest, and then who knows? Anything is possible, maybe FER registers a family farm as well! In addition to our professors and assistants, students also joined the set-up process, spontaneously while passing by for which we thank them. Check out how we worked with non-program tools in the pictures below.

A group of researchers from Stanford University in California (USA) recently published a study on the scientific citation, ranking around 160,000 of the world's most cited scientists in all disciplines and listing 2% of the world's most-cited scientists . The paper is available here . The study published two lists: a list of the most influential scientists for their entire scientific career and a list of the most influential scientists for 2019. The list of the most influential scientists in the world for the entire scientific career includes 47 Croatian scientists, including two from FER. Professor Sven Lončarić, Ph.D., is ranked in the top 1% of scientists in the world in the field of "Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing", and associate professor Dubravko Babić, Ph.D., in the top 2% of scientists in the world in the field of "Optoelectronics and Photonics". The list of the top 2% of the most influential scientists in the world for 2019 also includes 47 Croatian scientists, three of whom are from FER: professor Sven Lončarić, Ph.D. , in the field of "Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing", associate professor Hrvoje Pandžić, Ph.D. , in the field of "Energy" and professor Damir Žarko, Ph.D. , in the field of "Electrical & Electronic Engineering". The study used data from the Scopus database , which measures the impact of scientists until the end of 2019. The study, which categorises scientists into 22 fields and 176 branches, analysed citations from 1996 to 2019 and was based on a complex model that used six standardised metrics of scientific productivity.

Every year, FER hosts a number of foreign students who spend a semester or more expanding their knowledge, experience, and international contacts by taking the opportunities offered within the Erasmus+ mobility programme. Despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, this academic year FER has once again attracted students from all over the world. Below you can read some of the impressions from several exchange students who have spent the last few months in Zagreb.