Oldřich Jirsák

* 1947

Scientist, University professor, A cultural celebrity
21. 8. 1968 - Invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops, 17. 11. - 29. 12. 1989 - The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
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    Invention and expansion of Struto technology

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    duration: 01:45
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    “In the 1980s, Professor Krčma came up with the idea that we should make the nonwoven fabric so that the fibers do not lie flat in it, but are aligned perpendicularly there. We developed this kind of technology and found that such textiles have completely different properties, and then for several years we developed machines that could work here in factories. Then we succeeded, it was nothing that was producing particularly efficiently, but we installed here about a dozen machines in various textile companies in the Czech Republic. But then it was clear that if we wanted to go abroad, the machines had to work much faster. So, we managed to succeed with these machines abroad. I certainly spent more than a year alone in the United States, where I installed our machines that developed here. But not only in the United States, it was in about ten different countries where we could exhibit, sell, install, develop, and develop a variety of specific products. And that, of course, will bring you to the highest level, because that is something that must fall out and what someone in the world is willing to accept, buy, pay for and use.”

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    Working conditions in the state-owned company Chemlon

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    duration: 01:44
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    “When I was in Chemlon, it was an interesting event. It was a company that was built on a green field in the context of the so-called industrialization of Slovakia, or for the money provided by the government, relatively modern machines were bought, you can say the most modern state-of-the-art machines in the world. Those people had to learn to work with it. They learned it very well. And then those people should also be responsible for developing those technologies and products. But it wasn't like that. I have developed a number of potentially interesting and even realized things. But I was not supported in that Chemlon, because those bosses who were there were still driving around the world and still had enough money to buy more and more technology. There were built Russian, but also Dutch, German, Italian and Japanese technologies. And those bosses were going around the world and that was something - getting into the world and still having enough resources to live there. And then, they were esteemed customers of those potential suppliers of new technologies, so they were pampered there. And to support the strange activities of a researcher at home, it was not only distant, it was absolutely against their line of thinking.”

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    Liberec, 20.09.2019

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Graduation photo of Oldřich Jirsák
Graduation photo of Oldřich Jirsák
photo: archiv pamětníka
photo: archiv pamětníka
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Oldřich Jirsák was born on 22 July 1947 in Hradec Králové. In 1965 - 1970 he studied mathematics and chemistry at Palacký University in Olomouc. He perceived the transformation of the faculty at the beginning of normalization. After one year of military service, he joined the Chemlon state enterprise in Humenné, Slovakia as a researcher. He focused mainly on research of nylon fibers in order to improve their properties in clothing production. Later he joined the Technical University of Liberec, where he became a member of the team of prominent professor Radko Krčma. He participated in the development of Struto technology. Although he had limited resources for scientific work under socialism, he achieved academic recognition at this time. After the Velvet Revolution, he was awarded the title of professor and became the head of the Department of Nonwovens in Liberec. Together with his team he started to research nanofibers and nanofibrous materials. In 2003, he succeeded in discovering a unique technology for the industrial production of nanofiber woven textiles, the so-called Nanospider. He has won many awards for his success. Among the more well-known, for example, the title Czech Head. In 2008 he was awarded the Medal of Merit of the State in the field of science by the President of the Republic. Many of the discoveries of Oldřich Jirsák and his team are of worldwide importance.

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Photos (14)
  • Graduation photo of Oldřich Jirsák
    Graduation photo of Oldřich Jirsák
    photo: archiv pamětníka
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  • From the time of grammar school studies
    From the time of grammar school studies
    photo: archiv pamětníka
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  • At the fiber conference in Marianske Lazne (second from right)
    At the fiber conference in Marianske Lazne (second from right)
    photo: archiv pamětníka
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  • In the childhood
    In the childhood
    photo: archiv pamětníka
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  • Oldřich Jirsák in 2019
    Oldřich Jirsák in 2019
    photo: sbírka Post Bellum
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  • Oldřich Jirsák in the laboratory of the University of Liberec
    Oldřich Jirsák in the laboratory of the University of Liberec
    photo: archiv Technické univerzity v Liberci
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  • Oldřich Jirsák in the laboratory of the University of Liberec
    Oldřich Jirsák in the laboratory of the University of Liberec
    photo: archiv Technické univerzity v Liberci
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  • Receiving the Medal of Merit from the hands of the President of the Republic
    Receiving the Medal of Merit from the hands of the President of the Republic
    photo: archiv Technické univerzity v Liberci
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  • Receiving Gold Medal of Technical University of Liberec
    Receiving Gold Medal of Technical University of Liberec
    photo: archiv Technické univerzity v Liberci
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  • Speech on the occasion of receiving the Gold Medal of the Technical University of Liberec
    Speech on the occasion of receiving the Gold Medal of the Technical University of Liberec
    photo: archiv Technické univerzity v Liberci
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  • Presenting the machine for the production of nanofiber fabrics
    Presenting the machine for the production of nanofiber fabrics
    photo: archiv Technické univerzity v Liberci
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  • With the parents
    With the parents
    photo: archiv pamětníka
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  • At the nanotechnology conference (sitting in the middle)
    At the nanotechnology conference (sitting in the middle)
    photo: archiv pamětníka
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  • At the beginning of 1960s
    At the beginning of 1960s
    photo: archiv pamětníka
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Links (3)

Oldřich Jirsák: Výzkum je souhra náhody a dlouholetého tahu na branku

  • date:
    31.10.2019
  • medium type:
    Broadcasting
  • medium name:
    Český rozhlas: radiožurnál
  • author:
    Šárka Ševčíková

Oldřich Jirsák - Hyde park: civilizace

  • date:
    31.10.2019
  • medium type:
    Television
  • medium name:
    Český
  • author:
    Česká televize

Prof. Oldřich Jirsák, CSC.

  • date:
    31.10.2019
  • medium type:
    Internet
  • medium name:
    ceskahlava.cz
  • author:
    Česká hlava