Ljubljana, 18 June 2025 – The University of Ljubljana has awarded the dr. Ana Mayer Kansky awards for the most outstanding doctoral theses for the third time. Dr. Katja Klinar, from the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, was among the award recipients. She received the award for her PhD thesis, entitled The application of thermal switches and thermal diodes in a system with cyclical temperature change, which she prepared under the mentorship of prof. dr. Andrej Kitanovski and the co-mentorship of assoc. prof. dr. Ciril Arkar.
In her work, dr. Klinar investigated how heat flow is controlled in devices subject to cyclic temperature changes, using thermal switches and diodes in a manner analogous to how electronic components control electric current. She focused on magnetic refrigeration as an alternative to the conventional vapour-compression systems. She has studied the performance of liquid thermal switches and solid-state thermal diodes through a combination of numerical and experimental analysis and has developed a working prototype. The results of her research are a significant development in heat management and have the potential for broader practical applications.
The keynote speaker at the event was prof. dr. Vesna Žabkar from the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, and the patron of the award ceremony was the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar.
Congratulations to dr. Katja Klinar, and to all the other winners and their mentors!
Photos by Katja Kodba/STA.
