Introduction to modern technological systems

This course is designed to teach students the basics of modern, fast developing and innovative technological systems. The course syllabus includes a systematic approach to structural definition of a sustainable system and robust definition of sustainable development and its multiplicative effects. Modern technological systems are placed in the context of sustainable development, where students gain an understanding of both positive and negative impacts of each technology on economic, environmental and social aspects of development.
Students will acquire following competences:
• Basic understanding of modern technologies, their principles and methodologies used, which contributes to the basic general and particular erudition of graduates profile;
• Understanding of the concept of sustainability and sustainable development, with emphasis on the role of modern technological processes.
The basic objective of this course is to enable students to understand assessing of the sustainability state and potential of individual modern technologies, and engineering in general.

1. Introduction to course
   • Aims and purpose of the course
   • Syllabus presentation
   • Presentation of teaching tools, resources and course execution
   • Students' obligations
   • Study guidelines
2. Sustainability and sustainable development
   • The concept of sustainability
   • Biocapacity and ecological Footprint
   • Sustainable development concept
   • 4 laws of ecology and eco-industrial principles
   • Local self-supply
3. Sustainable development of local communities
   • Regional policy
   • Decentralized transformation of energy
   • Territorial metabolism
   • Endogenous resources
4. Circular economy
   • Circular economy concept
   • Implementation and case studies
5. Information technology
   • Features and functions of information technology
   • Components of information system
   • Overview of hardware
   • Web technologies and applications
   • Artificial intelligence
6. Modern mass production
   • Technology of tools and robots
   • Industrial and military use
   • Rapid prototyping
   • Composites
   • Process technologies
7. Biotechnology
   • Development and fundamentals of modern biotechnology
   • Genetics
   • Biotechnological products
   • Pharmacological Genetics
   • DNA analysis
   • Bioremediation
8. Nanotechnology
   • The development and state of the art of nanotechnology
   • Diamond and nanotubes
   • Products and use of nanotechnology products
9. Space and Communications Technologies
   • Remote sensing
   • Wireless technologies and protocols
   • AD and DA conversion
   • GPS
   • Telephony
10. Environmental technologies
    • Transforming renewable sources into energy
    • Biomass and waste potential
    • Plasmatic burning
    • The process of gasification
    • The process of depolymerisation
11. Study excursion
    • Visit to a selected company applying advanced technologies

After the completion of the course, students will mastered a systematic knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the difference between sustainability and sustainable development, and the role of modern technologies in this. They will understand the concept of sustainable development and the importance of harmonization of environmental, social and economic aspects of development. They will be familiar at the basic level with the state of the art of the most important modern technologies (bio-, nano-, environmental, information, ...), which strongly influence or is expected to influence on the development of human society, quality of life and geo-political conditions on our planet.

• GJERKEŠ, Henrik. Uvod v sodobne tehnološke sisteme : zapiski predavanj : verzija 1.1. Nova Gorica: [H. Gjerkeš], 2009. 1 optični disk (CD-ROM). Catalogue annual updates https://mitv.ung.si/
• GJERKEŠ, Henrik. Koncept krožnega gospodarstva, gradbeništvo in primer občine Kočevje. V: VOLFAND, Jože (ur.), et al. Prehod v trajnostno gradnjo in življenjski cikel stavbe : priročnik za krožno gospodarstvo. Celje: Fit media, 2020. Str. 56-61, ilustr. ISBN 978-961-6283-60-1. E-version
• ŠIJANEC-ZAVRL, Marjana, TOMŠIČ, Miha, GJERKEŠ, Henrik, POTOČAR, Erik. Implementation of the EPBD in Slovenia : status in 2020. [Brussels: European Union, 2021]. 1 spletni vir (1 datoteka PDF (27 str.)), ilustr. E-version
• Interesting engineering E-gradivo
• D. Mulhall, Our molecular future: How Nanotechnology, Robotics, Genetics, and Artificial Intelligence will Transform our World, Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York, 2002. Catalogue E-version
• K.E. Drexler, The Engines of Creation: The Comming Era of Nanotechnology, Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1986.Catalogue E-version
• Mobasser, Shariat & Firoozi, Ali. (2016). Review of Nanotechnology Applications in Science and Engineering. Journal of Civil Engineering and Urbanism. 6. 84-93. E-version
• William McDonough and Michael Braungart (2013). The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability - Designing for Abundance. North Point Press. Catalogue
• BIO 2005-2006-Giude to Biotechnology, Biotechnology Industry Organisation. E-version

• Seminar with oral presentation and discussion; report from the scientific evening; proactivity. • Written exam 30/70

Prof. dr. Henrik Gjerkeš. Habilitation field: Mechanical engineering.
Henrik Gjerkeš from Ljutomer graduated at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Maribor and received his master's degree and in 1999 PhD at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana. Since 2006, he has been employed at the University of Nova Gorica, where he is a lecturer in 6 courses at the School of Engineering and Management, the School of Environmental Sciences and the Graduate School, and a member of the Senate, the Scientific council and the Committee for academic affairs. In 2012, he was additionally employed at the Building and Civil Engineering Institute ZRMK, where he leads activities in the field of sustainable energy use and participates in numerous domestic and international projects - from strategic to completely concrete solutions to problems in industry and local communities. Between 2009 and 2011, he was a minister of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, responsible for local self-government, regional policy and the absorption of European funds. The basic field of work is mechanical engineering (heat transfer and process engineering), which he upgraded in his non-linear career path with knowledge of modern sustainable technologies, circularity, renewable energy sources, waste management, industrial ecology and regional politics. He is the mentor of 20 completed master's and 8 diploma theses. His bibliography comprises 243 items, of which 24 are scientific articles with 128 net citations and an h-index of 8 (WoS/Scopus, COBISS, September 2024).

Selected bibliography

BERCE, Jure, HADŽIĆ, Armin, MOŽE, Matic, ARHAR, Klara, GJERKEŠ, Henrik, ZUPANČIČ, Matevž, GOLOBIČ, Iztok. Effect of surface wettability on nanoparticle deposition during pool boiling on laser-textured copper surfaces. Nanomaterials. [Online ed.]. Feb. 2024, vol. 14, iss. 3, [article no.] 311, str. 1-17, ilustr. ISSN 2079-4991. [COBISS.SI-ID 184768771]

GJERKEŠ, Henrik. Opredelitev in implementacija krožnega gospodarstva. Geotermija v Pomurju : 21. znanstvena konferenca Pomurska akademija Pomurju. : 24. in 25. november 2023. [COBISS.SI-ID 173814531]

GJERKEŠ, Henrik, JAKIN, Tomaž. Trajnostni učinki povišanja stopnje lokalne energetske samooskrbe pri sistemu daljinskega ogrevanja stavb. Svet strojništva. sep. 2023, letn. 12, št. 1/2, str. 43-49, ilustr. ISSN 1855-6493. [COBISS.SI-ID 166391555]

GJERKEŠ, Henrik, ŠIJANEC-ZAVRL, Marjana, Akademija strojništva 2023, 22. 11. 2023, Ljubljana. Analysis of circular economy implementation in local community. Svet strojništva. 2023, letn. 12, št. 03/06, str. 148-149, ilustr. ISSN 2350-3505. [COBISS.SI-ID 173807107]

ŠIJANEC-ZAVRL, Marjana, JEJČIČ, Neva, TOMŠIČ, Miha, GJERKEŠ, Henrik. Razogljičenje stavb - usposabljanje, prepoznavanje kakovosti in merila za trajnostno gradnjo in prenovo. V: UMBERGER, Marko (ur.). Peter Novak. V Ljubljani: Slovensko društvo za sončno energijo, 2023. Str. 55-60, ilustr. ISBN 978-961-96287-0-6. COBISS.SI-ID 169930755]

MOŽE, Matic, ZUPANČIČ, Matevž, STEINBÜCHER, Miha, GOLOBIČ, Iztok, GJERKEŠ, Henrik. Nanosecond laser-textured copper surfaces hydrophobized with self-assembled monolayers for enhanced pool boiling heat transfer. Nanomaterials. [Online ed.]. Oct. 2022, vol. 12, iss. 22, str. 1-20, ilustr. ISSN 2079-4991. [COBISS.SI-ID 129879555]

MOŽE, Matic, ZUPANČIČ, Matevž, SEDMAK, Ivan, FERJANČIČ, Klemen, GJERKEŠ, Henrik, GOLOBIČ, Iztok. Revisiting the corresponding-states-based correlation for pool boiling critical heat flux. Energies. May 2022, vol. 15, iss. 10, str. 1-19, ilustr. ISSN 1996-1073. [COBISS.SI-ID 107631363]

TOMŠIČ, Miha, GJERKEŠ, Henrik, ŠIJANEC-ZAVRL, Marjana, BAČLIJA BRAJNIK, Irena, PREBILIČ, Vladimir. Potentials and limitations of local fiscal policies as instruments for sustainable development in Slovenia. Energy efficient building design and legislation. Paris: RILEM Publications, [2019]. Str. 237-244, ilustr. ISSN 1461-1147. [COBISS.SI-ID 5361915]

PETKOVŠEK, Jure, HENG, Yi, ZUPANČIČ, Matevž, GJERKEŠ, Henrik, CIMERMAN, Franc, GOLOBIČ, Iztok. IR thermographic investigation of nucleate pool boiling at high heat flux. International journal of refrigeration. [Print ed.]. Jan. 2016, vol. 61, str. 127-139, ilustr. ISSN 0140-7007. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2015.10.018. [COBISS.SI-ID 14351643]

ŠIJANEC-ZAVRL, Marjana, STEGNAR, Gašper, RAKUŠČEK, Andraž, GJERKEŠ, Henrik. A bottom-up building stock model for tracking regional energy targets : a case study of Kočevje. Sustainability. 2016, vol. 8, no. 10, str. 1-16, ilustr. ISSN 2071-1050. [COBISS.SI-ID 4550139]

GJERKEŠ, Henrik, MALENŠEK, Jože, SITAR, Anže, GOLOBIČ, Iztok. Product identification in industrial batch fermentation using a variable forgetting factor. Control eng. pract.. [Print ed.], Oct. 2011, vol. 19, iss. 10, str. 1208-1215, doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2011.06.011. [COBISS.SI-ID 11995931]

GOLOBIČ, Iztok, PETKOVŠEK, Jure, GJERKEŠ, Henrik, KENNING, D.B.R. Horizontal chain coalescence of bubbles in saturated pool boiling on a thin foil. Int. j. heat mass transfer. [Print ed.], Dec. 2011, vol. 54, iss. 25/26, str. 5517-5526, doi: 0.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2011.07.039. [COBISS.SI-ID 11996187]

GOLOBIČ, Iztok, GJERKEŠ, Henrik. Interactions between laser-activated nucleation sites in pool boiling. International journal of heat and mass transfer. [Print ed.]. 2001, vol. 44, no. 1, str. 143-153. ISSN 0017-9310. [COBISS.SI-ID 4009243]

GJERKEŠ, Henrik, GOLOBIČ, Iztok. Pool boiling CHF on a laser heated thin plate. International journal of heat and mass transfer. [Print ed.]. 2000, vol. 43, no. 11, str. 1999-2008. ISSN 0017-9310. [COBISS.SI-ID 3587355]