Representatives of CzechInvest accompanied a mission of Czech robotics specialists to Washington on 2-4 November 2015. The mission was organised by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington and CzechInvest. The event was preceded by a technology mission of science and innovation workers in May 2015.
“Robotics in the Czech Republic is at the peak of development on the global scale. Therefore, the objective of this mission was to support international cooperation in the area of research and development, and to present the Czech Republic as a technologically advanced country that is able to collaborate on the development of new technologies with potential for industrial application. We discussed the possibility of exchanges of students and research workers, cooperation on joint research projects, and projects for American governmental organisations,” says Roman Pašek, project manager for the area of support for research and development at CzechInvest.
Experts from leading Czech universities and other organisations visited, for example, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation and the University of Maryland. Meetings were also held with representatives of the Pentagon with respect to the Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise project and possibilities of involving Czech entities in that initiative. In connection with the mission, the Czech embassy organised a cultural and educational event on its premises that featured a series of lectures by the Czech representatives. The event was held under the auspices of the Czech ambassador to the United States, Petr Gandalovič, who also gave the opening remarks.
The mission participants were representatives of significant Czech robotics and cybernetics facilities. The group was led by Professor Vladimír Mařík of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at the Czech Technical University. Others participating in the mission included representatives of the Central European Institute of Technology, the research centre of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň, and the University of Defence in Brno.