What we deal with:

Educational, scientific and professional activities in the field of steel and timber structures developed within the framework of university education in Brno as early as the first decade of the twentieth century and have continued continuously until today.

Activities within this institute are mainly focused on education and research in the field of steel, timber, steel-concrete and other composite structures, as well as structural glass elements. These structures include various industrial buildings, engineering and technological buildings and, of course, civil buildings. The load-bearing structures of traffic structures using steel and timber as the main load-bearing material are also an integral part. This means steel and steel-concrete bridges, wooden bridges and pedestrian footbridges, etc.

Our teachers and scientists guide students to an independent creative activity and systematic approach to engineering education, including new knowledge and information in internal and external publications. Our institute also educate students to be able to transfer experiences gained from (inter)national activities to their own scientific work (e.g. experimental, project and expert work, participation in congresses and meetings, work in external private organizations, creation and revision of local and international technical documents, etc.).

An important part of the scientific and research activities of the Institute is the development and use of methods for experimental testing of load-bearing structures.

• We carry out professional reviews and expertise of load-bearing building structures, mainly made of steel, wood, composites and structural glass.
• We provide design support for proposed structures and recalculations of realized structures.
• We perform experimental verification of the actual behaviour of elements, members and structural systems.
• We provide verification of theoretical analysis and idealized calculation of elements, details and load bearing systems through load testing.

KDK Board

An advisory “KDK Board” was established at the Institute of Metal and Timber Structures. The members of this council are representatives of professional companies, mostly with european or world-wide scope, which are potential employers of graduates of the Faculty of Civil Engineering with a focus on metal and timber structures.

These are the following professional companies oriented to the construction industry:

• IDEA Statica s.r.o. (software for the design of structural details),
• ALLCONS, a.s. (design and realization of structures),
• FIRESTA-Fišer, rekonstrukce, stavby a.s. (design, production and realization of structures and bridges),
• voestalpine Profilform s.r.o. (design and realization of steel structures),
• UNICON, spol. s r.o. (design, production and assembly of steel structures),
• PIS PECHAL, s.r.o. (design of bridge and footbridge structures).

Members of the Board are consulted on the Institute professional direction, both in the field of education and science and research. Joint applied research projects are prepared and solved.

Experts from these companies provide selected parts of the teaching, e.g. lectures focused on the use of the BIM method or the use of special software in the design of steel and timber structures, including the design of their details. Cooperation in the provision of practical education, professional excursions and work experience is also beneficial.

For the Institute of Metal and Timber Structures, the discussions within the KDK Board provide welcome feedback for its professional and scientific activities, especially for the updating and modernisation of the content of the courses that the Institute guarantees.

Photos from the motivational lecture for students, which was attended by representatives of companies within the KDK Board.