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Transport electrification is considered as a major advancement for reducing CO2 emissions and improving energy efficiency. The project entitled “Development of high reliability motor drives for next generation propulsion applications - DORNA” is aimed at forming a coherent Research and Innovation Staff Exchange network, so as to address the technical challenges facing the electrifying transport industry, with a focus on high-reliability electrical traction drives. At the heart of the propulsion systems are electrical traction drives. But technological developments are still at an early stage. Industries are trying out different traction drive technologies. Existing technologies cannot meet the ever-growing market needs for safe, fast, green and affordable transportation. Major challenges include demands for very high torque density, power density, fuel efficiency and fault tolerance, pushing the devices and components to their physical and material limits. This programme will bring together EU’s leading universities and industries, and utilise the latest technological discoveries in power electronics, motor drives, drivetrains and control, sensors and monitoring, communications, big data and artificial intelligence. Project DORNA started on 1 March 2020 and is being carried out within the framework of “Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action - Research and Innovation Staff Exchange Evaluations” (MSCA RISE). Professor Stjepan Stipetić, Ph.D., is the project leader, and the total value of the project is EUR 1,623,800.00.

FER signed three new agreements within the “Investing in Science and Innovation” call for projects, financed from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The three projects are: “An Ecosystem of Networked Devices and Services for IoT Solutions Applied in Agriculture”, “Heterogeneous autonomous robotic system in viticulture and mariculture” (HEKTOR) and “Connected Stationary Battery Energy Storage”, with the combined value of HRK 17,217,450.83. FER is the coordinating institution in all three projects. You can find out more about the projects in the detailed news content.

This year’s "FER Day at MIOC", held on 9 March 2020, was the fourth edition of this manifestation. It is an event which aims to familiarise the students of the XV Gymnasium in Zagreb (MIOC) with the study at FER, scientific and professional projects and job opportunities after the study, as well as with the opportunities for socialising and entertainment, and sporting, art and cultural activities that FER offers to its students. You can read more about the event in the detailed news content.

Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC) is a robotics competition that is held every two years in Abu Dhabi (UAE). The competition, organised by the Khalifa University under the leadership of professor Lakmal Seneviratne, is conceived as a set of very ambitious and demanding challenges with the aim of pushing the boundaries of robotics through innovative solutions and technological excellence. The event took place from 23 to 27 February 2020. MBZIRC2020 is the second edition of the competition and the first attended by FER's Laboratory for Robotics and Intelligent Control Systems (LARICS) . MBZIRC2020 comprised of three separate challenges and the grand challenge, which combined elements from the first three challenges. The points system was formed in a way that emphasised the autonomy, so that the autonomous results, regardless of the task completion percentage, scored more points than the results achieved in manual modes. The leader of the LARICS team for MBZIRC was Frano Petrić, who oversaw the coordination of activities under the watchful eyes of professor Stjepan Bogdan and assistant professor Matko Orsag, while the burden of implementation was carried out by LARICS Ph.D. students: Barbara Arbanas, Marko Car, Antun Ivanović, Marsela Polić, Ivan Hrabar, Ivo Vatavuk, Lovro Marković, Ana Batinović, Antonella Barišić, Robert Milijaš i Marko Križmančić. The team decided to complete the tasks autonomously.

University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing introduced a new visual identity after almost 25 years, stepping into the next decade with a refreshed logo that more strongly defines FER as a brand which guarantees a top-quality education, cutting-edge science and superior research capacity. This is the third change of FER’s visual identity since its founding. The first tender for the conceptual design of the trademark of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb, as it was called, was announced in 1966, when the dean Vladimir Muljević, Ph.D., considering it necessary to increase the student organization’s interest in the work and life at the Faculty as much as possible, offered prizes in the amounts of 150, 100 and 50 new dinars. The second change happened 30 years later, and it was a logical step following the change of the Faculty’s name into its present form - Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. “The refined FER logo follows the evolution of the Faculty and reflects our outstanding achievements in the fields of education, research and profession. We believe that all generations can identify with this sign and that it will be recognisable not only in Croatia, but also in the international environment, to which we are opening this fall with our study program in English”, said the FER dean Gordan Gledec, Ph.D., during the presentation. The new visual identity was conceived by designer Jelena Rebrnjak from Bornfight, who found her inspiration in the heroine of modern technology, American scientist and programmer Grace Hopper. The associations she singled out as FER's values are methodical approach, flexibility and progress, which resulted in the slogan "Learn from the past, explore the present, and invent the future."

Representatives of Hrvatski Telekom and FER have signed a Letter of Intent for launching the Campus Network project , which will offer the possibility of working on the latest communication technologies to students, startups, and the whole industry . Given that the technology sector is one of the fastest-growing in the world, academia will be allowed to work on industrial development projects based on Industry 4.0, Smart Factory, Industrial Internet of Things (iIoT), and 5G . HT plans to invest around HRK 2 million in the development of the project. The Campus Network is a private mobile network that will cover the faculty lab with a dedicated 4G and 5G network. The lab will be at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, and FER is open for collaboration with other interested faculties . The next step is to include other cities such as Rijeka, Split, and Osijek. The solutions that will be developed will also be applicable in the public 4G and 5G network of Hrvatski Telekom.