The University of Ljubljana (UL) is the biggest higher education and research institution in Slovenia, with more than 40.000 students and more than 5.700 employees; out of which almost 4.000 work in research. The annual budget of UL is approximately 287 mio. Euros. In 2015, UL has been involved in 196 long-term research programmes and additional 440 research projects.

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (UL-FME), as an autonomous educational, research higher education institution consists of than 320 employees (mostly academic staff) and is very active in national and international R&D and educational programmes. It has been involved in more than 70 EU-funded projects in last 5 years (H2020, FP7, CIP IEE, ERDF, Era-NET, Life, Erasmus+, LLL, ESA, Eureka, COST, other…).

One of the primary goals of UL-FME is to strive for excellence in pedagogic, scientific, and technical achievements. It also plays an active role in technical education, trying to raise the awareness of the role of engineering not only on a university level, but also on a broader level, among primary and secondary school students and even publics, by organised appearing in media coverages, fair exhibitions, and other means of information.

In this project, the Laboratory for Computer-aided Design and Engineering (LECAD) from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at UL (UL-FME) will be involved. LECAD is specialised in new product development, design methodology, complex 3D modelling, and CFD analysis. It is being led by Prof. Nikola Vukašinović. LECAD is specialized in Integrated Product Development and Design, Kansei Engineering, Emotional Engineering, product data management and product lifecycle management, various numerical flow analyses, advanced surface modelling, precision 3D surface measurements, development of special CAD solutions for industrial partners. Both UL-FME and LECAD have well-established connections with major and niche local and international industry including Talum, Trimo, Domel, Kolektor group, Bosch Household appliances, Yaskava, Gorenje, etc., as well as to the best engineering universities and faculties in the region and worldwide.

Key staff involved:

Nikola Vukašinović – associate professor and project coordinator at UL-FME
Daria Vlah – project coordinator at UL-FME for the years 2022 and 2023
Luka Kovač – external associate and coach at UL-FME in the years 2022 and 2023
Aleš Durjava – coach and coordinator at the UL-FME in the year 2024