As part of the University of Ljubljana Week, the University of Ljubljana (UL) presented the Prešeren Awards for UL students, recognising outstanding achievements in the fields of science and the arts. At the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UL, we are especially proud that, upon our Faculty’s nomination, Robert Lovšin was among this year’s award recipients for his research work entitled “The relationship between the resistance of superhydrophobic surfaces to impacting water droplets and ice adhesion.”
In 2025, Robert successfully completed his Master’s degree at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UL. In his Master’s thesis, prepared under the supervision of Assist. Prof. Matic Može, PhD, and co-supervision of Prof. Iztok Golobič, PhD, he investigated the interaction of water droplets with superhydrophobic surfaces and the influence of microtopography on ice adhesion. Based on an extensive dataset of 3,500 measurements, he used machine learning to develop empirical equations describing droplet spreading upon impact with a surface.
He also presented his findings to the wider research community: the results were published in three original scientific papers and presented at three international conferences.
We warmly congratulate Robert on this exceptional achievement and wish him every success in his future endeavours.