Outstanding students: energy inventor and street artist

TWO YOUNG men received the title Outstanding Student Personality for the year 2015; Dabiel Šlosár as researcher and inventor in energy, and Viktor Feher as street art promoter.

Chargebrella, designChargebrella, design (Source: Courtesy of Korzár)

Šlosár, a postgraduate student at the Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Management and Geo-technologies of the Technical University in Košice (TUKE), focuses on alternative sources of energy and their practical use.  For example, he improved the solar cooker, shower, fridge, and fruit dryer that operate only on sun rays. He presented the production of these devices for public in collaboration with the environmental education centre Sosna. Key to the recent award was his patent for a re-charging umbrella, the so-called chargebrella. He has had this technology patented in several countries.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

SkryťTurn off ads

The device, which looks like ordinary umbrella, has a generator embedded in the hand-grip which generates electric power either from sunlight or a strong heat, e.g. a hearth or a small stove. Thus, it can also operate at night. The chargebrella exists in various sizes: from classical and parasol,to a symbolic size of a small parabola. It is especially handy for tourists and travellers, as it needs no battery and is thus very lightweight.  

A mobile phone, camera, notebook or other device can be connected to the chargebrella and re-charged. The invention is in the research phase, with the aim of getting on the market in several months.

Šlosár was pleased to receive the award, as he had worked very hard, not even taking a holiday during his five years of study, and he invested a lot of his own money in the research. “Thus, it is a satisfaction to get the award, and a mental boost,” he told the Košický korzár local daily. He founded an eponymous start-up, and a non-profit organisation Energia na dosah / Energy within Reach which pursues the further development of alternative energy sources for the wider public.

SkryťTurn off ads

The winner of the category Culture and Art is Viktor Feher, a graduate of the course of new media at the Faculty of Arts of TUKE and is a promoter of visual culture in Slovakia. His project of monumental paintings on buildings’ facades is the most original gallery project in public space in the region of Košice. He is also co-author of the idea of the street gallery Street Art Communication.

The project Outstanding Student Personality of Slovakia is organised by the Junior Chamber International – Slovakia, where the best graduate and post-graduate students are selected by experts from academia and universities.  

Top stories

Janka, a blogger, during the inauguration of the first flight to Athens with Aegean Airlines at the airport in Bratislava on September 14, 2023.

A Czech rail operator connects Prague and Ukraine, Dominika Cibulková endorses Pellegrini, and Bratislava events.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad