Under the acronym IAHRWG 2025, the most important international academic conference in the field of hydraulic machines took place on October 1 and 2 at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. It brought together over 80 experts from 14 countries and 3 continents. The event was held in Brno for the second time, which shows, among other things, that the city, associated with the icon of the field, Viktor Kaplan, continues to be of great importance in the world of hydraulics.
The faculty hosted the meeting in 2009, as Pavel Rudolf from the Department of Fluid Engineering reminded the audience in his speech on behalf of the organizers. "I welcome familiar faces here, but also young researchers who were not with us in 2009 and who show that the field of hydraulic machines continues to develop," he said in his introduction.
"We are in the city where Viktor Kaplan invented his turbine, and as you can see in the photographs, he worked in modest conditions, even for his time. Nevertheless, he achieved great things, and today there are over 10,000 Kaplan turbines installed around the world. What should we take from this? Sometimes it is not all the modern tools and simulations that are important, but mainly a deep knowledge of theory, curiosity, and a little stubbornness," added Rudolf, who also pointed out that the support of industrialist Ignaz Stork was crucial for Kaplan – and that the connection with industrial practice is still key for researchers today.
The IAHR organization covers all research in the field of hydraulics, not only from an engineering perspective, but also from a construction (e.g., dams or irrigation) and environmental perspective. The Brno meeting focused specifically on cavitation and the dynamics of hydraulic machines. A total of 45 expert contributions addressed both traditional topics and modern trends that affect virtually every technical field, namely AI and machine learning.
The participants were also welcomed by the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Jiří Hlinka, who briefly introduced the faculty and invited those present to enjoy the beauty of Brno and the Czech Republic. They had the opportunity to do so on Friday, when a full-day technical excursion to the Dlouhé stráně power plant took place. This pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant is also popular among tourists, with thousands of people visiting it every year.