NEWS | 
- Between March 27 and 29, 2024, our department was visited by dr. Ana Janković and dr. Marja Đošić from the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade. The visit took place within the framework of the bilateral project entitled "Electrochemical preparation of composite biomaterials for medical implants", which was approved at the Public Call of ARIS on (co)financing of scientific research cooperation between Slovenia and Serbia in the period 20232025. The project leaders are dr. Ana Janković and Prof. dr. Ingrid Milošev. The purpose of the visit was to tour the laboratories and work on the plan of the study and experiments that are set within the framework of the project. dr. Ana Janković presented a lecture entitled "Electrochemical Syntheses of Antibacterial Biomaterials for Medical Applications", which was followed by an in-depth discussion.
We are pleased to announce that from the 18 to the 23 March we will be holding our traditional Jožef Stefan Days, which are organized to commemorate the birthday of the renowned physicist Jožef Stefan, after whom our institution is named. Organising committee has put together a unique and interesting programme for all six days: from topical and entertaining panel discussions, to guest lectures by renowned speakers, to exciting demonstrations of experiments and research departments. The detailed programme is available here.
- On February 6, 2024, we visited the company Kolektor Mobility d.o.o. in Idrija. We have a joint project with the company on research of corrosion processes of rotor and stator components of electric motor drives for automotive applications. Our host and project manager at Kolektor Mobility was dr. Nataša Kovačević, and the purpose of the visit was to review the results of the last three-month period and visit the company's laboratories. The joint project takes place within the framework of the GREMO i-Motion mission, which was established by Slovenian automotive companies as a joint development plan with the aim of the mission of green and digital transformation of the Slovenian automotive industry. It is an interesting and contemporary research problem and we look forward to the common challenges ahead.
- In December 2023, we were visited by prof. dr. Daniel M. Lyons from the Center for Marine Research of the Ruđer Bošković Institute. The Center for Marine Research is located in Rovinj, prof. Lyons is the head of the Laboratory for Marine Nanotechnology and Biotechnology. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare a joint scientific research project. Prof. Lyons visited our laboratories and presented a lecture entitled "Leveraging materials chemistry for environmental research".
On Wednesday, 22 November 2023, the Academy of Mechanical Engineering 2023 (Engineering - connecting for a sustainable breakthrough) took place in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana. The K3 department also participated in the event through short papers and presentations in the poster section with the following contributions:
- I. Milošev, A. Jeromen, P. Rodič, B. Kapun, D. Sačer, T. Poženel Kovačiča, D. Kramar, F. Pušavec, E. Govekar, The comparison between commercial and additive-manufactured Ti6Al4V alloys used for medical applications,
- P. Rodič, N. Kovač, M. Može, Laser texturing of aluminium to obtain a superhydrophobic surface with enhanced corrosion protection,
- S. Jereb, M. Može, P. Rodič, M. Zupančič, I. Golobič, The influence of laser processing parameters on the wettability of structured functionalized surfaces
The 19th Asia-Pacific Conference on Corrosion Control (APCCC) was held in Guangzhou, China from 16 to 18 November 2023. Organized by the China Corrosion and Protection Association, the conference is an important promoter of awareness of the importance of corrosion protection and a platform to exchange the latest scientific achievements in the field. In addition to the participants from China, some eminent invited lecturers from other parts of the world took part in the conference. As an invited lecturer, Prof. dr. Ingrid Milošev presented an invited keynote lecture entitled Conversion coatings and their role in the protection of different alloys in the "Advanced coatings and surfaces" section.
- We have reached the first milestone in the research part of the project BIOAD, namely the development of a new titanium alloy with additive technology, which has great potential for use in biomedicine. On November 9, 2023, a meeting of partners in the BIOAD project was held at the Jožef Stefan Institute, which was aimed at reviewing the results after the first project year and planning further research. The BIOAD project was approved at the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) public call for (co)financing of research projects in 2022. BIOAD "Antibacterial alloys: development with additive 3D manufacturing, characterization and clinical applications" (J7-4639) project coordinated by Prof. Ingrid Milošev unites a consortium of five partners: Jožef Stefan Institute, Valdoltra Orthopaedic Hospital and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Ljubljana. We continue the research work in full swing, along with the preparation of the first scientific publications.ana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology) and doc. dr. Ivo Jerman (National Institute of Chemistry). Congratulations!
- On October 25, 2023, Damir Hamulić defended his PhD thesis entitled “Hybrid sol-gel coatings based on different acrylate derivatives for protectiobn of aluminium alloy and steel against corrosion and biofouling” at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Damir Hamulić completed his thesis under the supervision of prof. Ingrid Milošev and co-supervision of doc. dr. Peter Rodič. The commission for assessing the doctoral dissertation was composed of the following members: prof. dr. Stojan Stavber (Jožef Stefan Institute), prof. dr. Romana Cerc Korošec (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology) and doc. dr. Ivo Jerman (National Institute of Chemistry). Congratulations!
