Onsemi, a company specialising in automotive and industrial applications, will provide financial support to the university to upgrade its technological equipment and involve its experts in teaching.
"This collaboration represents a unique opportunity for our students to gain practical experience and knowledge directly from leading experts in the field. We are the only university in Central Europe with which Onsemi established cooperation last year in the STEAM Education grants programme, which confirms the high quality of our education and research," said Professor Jan Platoš, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (FEECS), which will be the main partner of the project.
The cooperation between VSB-TUO and onsemi is an example of an effective link between academia and industry, bringing benefits not only to students and the university, but also to the wider society. It will strengthen the international prestige of the university, bring new opportunities for students and academics and increase the connection with industrial practice.
"Supporting technical education and cooperation with academia has been inherent to Onsemi for decades. Our common goal is to attract more students to promising fields of study and to closely connect them already during their studies with practice so that they are 100% prepared for their professional career," said Aleš Cáb, Vice President for Production at onsemi in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm.
VSB-TUO applied for the programme on the initiative of its graduate Šarka Vávrová, who graduated from FEECS and is currently in her seventh year as an application engineer at onsemi's design centre in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. Her proposal for a collaboration between the school and the company was enthusiastically accepted by the university and quickly transformed into a concrete project. "The world of electronics is constantly evolving and every year brings new and exciting innovations. None of this would be possible without talented engineers. And quality engineers can only come from an excellent education system. I believe that teaching in this field should keep pace with the rapid pace of technological advancement. Therefore, I gladly accepted the opportunity to contribute to the improvement and modernization of teaching at the university."
A great added value of the programme is the emphasis on interdisciplinary education and practical application of knowledge. "Students will learn specific topics in a broader context and immediately apply their new knowledge in practice," explained Professor Petr Palacký, Head of the Department of Applied Electronics. He added that the selection of VSB-TUO among the ten most important institutions from all over the world, with which the company concluded a cooperation agreement last year, confirms its importance in technical education and its orientation towards innovations with a direct impact on industrial practice.
The importance of the interdisciplinary approach to renewable energy in the onsemi programme is also emphasised by Professor Dagmar Juchelková from the Department of Applied Electronics at FEECS: "It is not just about students mastering technical skills. We want to show them how their knowledge affects the whole energy system and that renewable energy is not just about wind turbines or solar panels. If we design systems smarter, faster, more resilient and more efficient, we will save not only money but also energy, which is beneficial anytime, anywhere and for everyone."
"My colleagues and I have prepared a professional proposal that not only meets the needs of our school and the ideas of the onsemi, but also takes into account the state's educational strategy. In addition, the proposal was developed using the experience of the American system of cooperation between educational institutions and industry, which we gained last October during our stay at Arizona State University and onsemi HQ in Phoenix, Arizona," explained Assistant Professor Ing. Jan Strossa.
The joint project of VSB-TUO and onsemi was named Up2Future-Cooperation of education and practice for student target groups students in technical education. It focuses on applied electronics and renewable energy, areas with a high demand for skilled professionals. Thanks to the financial support of a renowned company, the university is now upgrading the microcomputer technology and power semiconductor systems laboratories of the Applied Electronics Department, and has also started building a new laboratory for industrial electronics development. The laboratories will be equipped with the latest technology, microcomputers and development kits with FPGAs, special types of integrated circuits that can be reprogrammed after they have been manufactured, as well as state-of-the-art measurement equipment and demonstration fixtures developed by onsemi for teaching. It will enable students to work with modern tools and prepare them for current challenges in the field. The new equipment will enable them to adapt even more to the changing needs of industry and introduce a completely new subject of digital systems with FPGAs into the curriculum.
Experts from the Rožnov branch of onsemi will regularly lecture at the FEI on selected topics and bring the latest findings from practice into the teaching. The first lecture for students of the Applied Electronics programme took place at the beginning of March. The topic "Active Load and Differential Transistor Stage," was presented by the lecturer Ing. Petr Kadaňka from onsemi, who also regularly lectures at FEKT VUT Brno.
This year, students will also have the opportunity to complete internships at onsemi, where they will be involved in real projects. The company will also award the best bachelor and master theses, which will motivate students to achieve the best results. Interested students can also meet onsemi at the Career Fair at VSB-TUO, which will take place on 11 March 2025.