Although summer has long since passed, the Sandbox has entered the new academic year with fresh energy and new projects already taking shape in our lab. Work didn’t stop over the summer: we successfully held a workshop for the Summer School of Mechanical Engineering and the Summer Research Camp, while students developed their own prototypes:
- Two-axis robot for knocking down cans using computer vision – interactive, fun, and highly educational (yes, we knocked down some cans too!).
- Composite paddles – tested in the summer waves.
- HYDROMAN, a hydrogen-powered remote-controlled car – debuted in its first competition, bringing a wealth of real engineering challenges and valuable experience.
Six New Development Challenges
We’re excited to announce six projects that will be completed and presented at the end of the semester:
- Experimental autonomous flying wing
- Dry electrolytic cell with separate hydrogen and oxygen outputs
- Composite climbing holds
- Development and production of an acoustic ukulele
- Oven for composite curing
- Multi-axis winder for automatic watches
A Space Where Talent Becomes Practice
On Thursday, November 6th, the faculty leadership, donors, and fellow students attended the presentations of all teams. The Dean, Prof. Dr. Jernej Klemenc, emphasized that the students’ ideas and implementations are the best confirmation of a wise decision. “We’ve created a space where students can live out their creativity and ambitions, grow, connect across disciplines, and develop teamwork.”
Donors shared the enthusiasm as well. Dr. Boštjan Pečnik (Gorenje), a gold-level donor, highlighted how valuable it is to follow student development for the third year in a row – their creativity, adaptability, and team spirit are competencies that matter in industry too. During informal networking, he added that while it’s tempting to advise and “save” a misguided direction during presentations, it’s precisely the process of facing and solving problems that builds true engineering knowledge.
Thank You – See You at the Final Presentations
We wish all teams a successful semester and look forward to seeing their final products at the end of the term. Sincere thanks to our donors and supporters, who, alongside the Faculty and the NOO – Recovery and Resilience Plan – make it possible for the Peskovnik- open lab to live, grow, and become the central community for student engineering engagement at our faculty. That is the mission of the Peskovnik – open lab.
