Published: 08.11.2021
On 6 October 2021 the traditional event called “The Evening with Czech Chemistry” was held. The event is regularly organized by the Association of Chemical Industry of the Czech Republic. The guests met in the hall of the Prague Congress Centre in Vyšehrad after two years. Last year the event did not take place due to the pandemic situation.
The opening speech was given by the President of the Association of Chemical Industry Ing. Petr Cingr. Short welcoming speeches were also given by other representatives of renowned enterprises from the chemical industry including the General Director of Synthesia, a.s., Ing. Josef Liška.
In the course of the evening the “Responsible Care” Certificate was awarded. This voluntary and global activity focuses on the area of health, safety and the environment. The Certificate was received by a total of 14 manufacturing and distribution companies in the chemical industry.
One of the highlights of the programme was the recognition of prominent personalities of Czech chemistry for 2021. The Board of the Association awarded a total of five personalities of Czech chemistry. One of the awardees was Prof. Ing. Petr Kalenda, CSc., Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology, who gave a short thank you speech.
Professor Kalenda has long been devoted to the popularization of chemistry among elementary and secondary school students in order to attract young people to technical fields, especially to chemistry. Professor Kalenda is also one of the masterminds behind the national competition “Search for the Best Young Chemist of CR”. The competition is one of the most important promotional events in the field of chemistry for elementary school students in the ninth grade. The competition was created in cooperation between FChT and Synthesia, a.s., originally to promote chemistry in the Pardubice Region but it has grown into a national scale. The last year of the competition included more than 10,000 students from all over the country. Every year the announcement of national winners is held at the FChT and is attended by the directors of leading Czech and Slovak companies active in the field of chemistry.
Professor Kalenda also contributed to the deepening of cooperation between FChT and secondary schools, especially in the field of educational activities for students and teachers. Given the list of his long-term activities it is clear that Professor Kalenda is one of the prominent personalities of Czech chemistry.
We would like to congratulate him and wish him a lot of health, enthusiasm and inspiring ideas for the following years!
Mgr. Lucie Stříbrná, Ph.D.
Vice-Dean of the Faculty
