Technical Olympiad
Technical base

Cooperation with ČEZ

The Secondary School of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering in České Budějovice has long been actively cooperating with the company CEZ. The offer of the SPŠ SE focus comprehensively covers areas related to the activities of (not only) ČEZ.

This extremely important cooperation includes educational activities, projects and professional talksthat enrich the pupils' learning. ČEZ also supports the school Financially, especially when equipping specialist classrooms. We also work together on popularizing technology and activities for secondary and primary school students.

Collaboration enables students to to link theory with practice, enhances the prestige of our school and motivates them to pursue technical fields.

Specific forms of cooperation

 

CEZ is a key partner of our school.

 

Supports us financially, materially and in terms of knowledge. Take a look below at just a few of the many forms of cooperationthat allow us to take our teaching and the school much further.

Excursion of pupils to ČEZ facilities

The most frequent destination of professional excursions focused on energy is undoubtedly NPP Temelín. Pupils, especially fourth year pupils, regularly attend Infocentre nuclear power plants followed by a visit block supervision simulator.

 

Visit Infocentres serves to increase knowledge about the operation of a nuclear power plant, including its history and the principles of electricity generation from nuclear fuel, and last but not least, safety measures. There are also exhibits of nuclear reactor models, fuel cell designs and steam condensers. The lecture is then implemented using virtual 3D presentations and after that it is also possible to see the fog chamber, which helps students realise how much natural radiation exists around us without our senses being able to perceive it.

 

Simulator block guards faithfully replicates the actual control centre of this power plant and shows students how to deal with various operational situations.

 

More professional excursions to other sites are also a reward for students in various competitions and as part of a professional three-day internship Nuclear Baccalaureate.

Water reservoir Hněvkovice serves to supply the Temelín NPP with operating water. The tours include a tour of the petrol stationswhere students are informed about water pumping and its use in the cooling system of the power plant. In addition to technical information, it also introduces the importance of the reservoir for the surrounding ecosystem and flood protection.

 

In the secure area, they'll go through engine roomwhere technical water pumps work and students have the opportunity to see the safety equipment eliminating hydrostatic shocks of pumped water.

A professional excursion with interpretation is also offered Orlik hydroelectric power plant. The tour includes, in addition to Infocentres and excursion directly into operation - Students can thus see the entire operation of the power plant, including its facilities, Kaplan turbines and water intakes.

Lectures, talks and conferences

In 2025, second-year students in the field of Electricity invited to a prestigious conference Efficient Energy - Nuclear Future at the Clarion Hotel.

The introductory presentations covered the general situation in the energy sector, legislation, energy projects and strategies aimed at a green Czech Republic and a green city of České Budějovice. The expert lectures focused on nuclear energy.

 

Presentations focused on resource adequacy, development of generation resources in the Czech Republic and small modular reactors. Another speaker pointed out the difficulty of building resources and the risks associated with the fact that the political representation and the public are not aware of the risks of not addressing the resource adequacy of the Czech energy sector and the limited possibilities of renewable sources to cover the electricity consumption chart of the Czech Republic.

 

The conference provided students with a detailed picture of where the electricity sector in the Czech Republic is heading, what challenges it will face and what risks will arise if coal-fired power plants are closed and other generation sources are not built in time.

In 2024 and subsequently in 2025, a professional lecture for secondary school and high school students was held at our school with Ing. Jan Hejný, a power plant worker and SMR specialist.

 

It was explained that the spectrum of renewable and zero-emission electricity generation could not be done without nuclear power plants to meet the needs of industry, services, transport and households today and in the future. Small Modular Reactor Technology has some advantages over large nuclear units and could suitably - even at the local level - complement the generation mix in the Czech Republic.

 

During the lecture, the pupils could learn about the current plan of ČEZ to build a small modular reactor at the Temelín power plant. The lecturer informed the pupils about the current energy mix of the Czech Republic, its further development and the need to build new emission-free sources to ensure the balance of electricity production and consumption in the Czech Republic. Considering the geographical situation in our country, CEZ sees the future of generation sources in a combination of solar and wind power plants, nuclear power plants and natural gas-fired power plants.

 

The lecture was conducted in a very interactive way and students could discuss with the lecturer.

Each year, selected pupils 3rd years within the compulsory practice 2 weeks experts from ETE, Škoda JS and other companies are working directly at the plant site (Temelín Nuclear Power Plant).

Competitions organized by ČEZ

CEZ has been organizing an annual competition for over ten years I know why for primary and secondary school pupils, the aim of which is to entertain introduce physics through simple experiments.

 

The winners of the main categories (primary school and secondary school) receive valuable shopping vouchers and hundreds of thousands of crowns for the purchase of equipment, teaching aids or classroom adaptations for their school. The funding is provided by the ČEZ Foundation.

In 2025, the pilot year of the competition and educational event, which brings together engineering students and practitioners and focuses in particular on Cybersecurity.

 

Lecture part introduces students of 1st to 3rd years of Robotics with the most significant cyber attacks in history, describes their course and what measures the CEZ Group power plants are taking today to prevent their recurrence.

 

Follow-up practical part The event no longer serves only select students across majors and years with an interest in cybersecurity. The best solvers are rewarded with prizes and a special professional excursion to Temelín NPP.

Joint popularisation activities

In cooperation with ČEZ we also co-organize annual competition pfor primary school pupils, who like technology and want to show their creativity in solving various tasks.

 

V Technical Olympiad it is not about counting examples or describing machines, the main task is to invent and create something of your own. The tasks are simple and it's up to the contestants how original they solve them. The best solvers then go on to the regional round, and all successful solvers receive bonus points in the entrance exam.

CEZ also supports the joint project Technical bases, an innovative educational project linking a primary school and a secondary industrial school. 

 

This project focuses on teaching technical skills and provides students in the newly created class with a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in technical fields.

 

Teaching in this class continues to be aimed at preparing for study at any secondary school, twice a week for two hours However, it offers pupils the opportunity to attend modernly equipped workshops and classrooms. Technical contexts are also included in the teaching of other subjects.

With the support of ČEZ, the Lecture s workshop from physics on the topic The Fog Chamber. Under the guidance of the Faculty of Nuclear and Physical Engineering of the CTU and together with the necessary equipment from our workshops, the second year students built a simple (but fully functional) Fog chamber models to detect the radiation around us.

 

The whole experiment was a success and some very nice experiments with dry ice and liquid nitrogen.

Educational programs organized by ČEZ

Pupils in the fields of Electrical Power Engineering and Robotics had the opportunity to take part in an interactive programme during their first year Encounters with energy created by ČEZ.

 

The programme combines presentation s illustrative Excerpts and a living Discussions and competition questions. In an educational way, it shows the young generation the possibilities of using different sources of electricity and clearly maps out what is feasible and what is not. It also includes a virtual reality tour of nuclear power plants.

 

CEZ Group traditionally organizes a special educational program for high school students in cooperation with NPP Temelín Nuclear Baccalaureate. It is a three-day internship culminating in a knowledge test, the aim of which is to introduce young people to the operation of nuclear power and to promote their interest in technical fields and energy, with the possibility of future cooperation with CEZ Group.

 

The event includes expert lectures by nuclear power professionals, discussions with experts, including the plant management, and excursions to the plant's operation - both virtual and physical. At the end, students are given a knowledge test to verify the knowledge acquired during the programme.

Material and financial support for the school

A huge support for us is also financial and material support from ČEZfor which we are very grateful and which enables our school to develop technically and provide students with modern technical equipment.

 

Thanks to the great financial support for purchase of teaching aids and equipment for specialist classrooms in 2024/2025 as part of the project Electric Power Centre were able to equip the newly completed school extension for teaching vocational subjects. Students can now use modern IT technology, measuring instruments, electrical equipment for low and high current, simulators for training real situations and much more. It also included the purchase of an electric teaching car and a photovoltaic power plant will be built on the roof of the school.

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