2018 Scientist of the Year

Five people were given awards as part of the '2018 Scientist of the Year' event in Bratislava on Monday. The main prize was handed over to Vladimir Zelenak from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice for merits in the introduction and development of nanopore materials, including metal-organic frameworks and aligned mesoporous silica films in Slovakia and the application of these materials as sorbents, intelligent drug-delivery vehicles and magnetic materials. The event was co-organised by the Science and Technology Information Centre (CVTI), the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) and the Association of Slovak Science and Technology Companies. The award for top young scientist of the year went to Matej Balaz from the SAV's Geotechnics Institute in Kosice for innovations in mechanochemistry. Meanwhile, Presov-based Jan Pitel from the Faculty of Production Technologies of the Technical University in Kosice became the innovator of the year for "innovative technology solutions in automation and operation of machines and processes protected by patents and utility models". Jozef Zohn from a private company called Askozvar in Kosice was named the technologist of the year for the introduction of welding technologies with the use of a three-component gas mixture. Otokar Grosek from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava was given an award for international co-operation, particularly in promoting Slovak science in NATO and success in receiving foreign grants. Earlier, he received a NATO award for the best project of the decade in cyber-security.