The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Ljubljana's University somehow resembles the best Slovenian SMEs: it is a niche tech leader that cooperates closely with its peers in Europe and elsewhere, yet its advances are practically unknown to the wider public.
The University of Ljubljana’s best scientific project in 2022 was a new solution in magnetic based cooling technology developed by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The Faculty's Supercool project focuses on yet another alternative and highly efficient refrigeration technology: elastocaloric cooling. The faculty is a leading institution in the European Mobility GT project focusing on “surfaces and interfaces for sustainable green mobility”. It is also involved in the development of materials used in the next generation solid state batteries. One of the faculty’s labs won the Slovenian chamber of Commerce and Industry’s award for the best IT project in 2022 for the AI-based digital twin production model developed with Slovenian mobile homes and modular buildings producer Adria Home.
Other key research areas of the faculty’s labs include water treatment technologies, robotic systems including machine vision in combination with deep learning, nanomaterials, measurement techniques, biomaterials for drug delivery, advanced laser-based technologies, and modelling based on exascale computing.
Overall, the faculty runs 41 laboratories and research units focusing on four key areas: factories of the future, green and safe mobility, sustainable energy, and health. The majority of the faculty’s projects are carried out in close cooperation with both Slovenian tech companies and global corporations, including Yaskawa, Bosch Siemens, Scania, Hisense, and Danfoss.
