News

The UP Faculty of Polymer Technology successfully organized the second international conference, AM Connect – International Conference on Research and Industrial Advances in Additive Manufacturing, in Slovenj Gradec. The event attracted more than 90 participants from 14 countries over two days and showcased the latest developments in additive manufacturing and 3D printing. The conference was held within the framework of the ADDCIRCLES project, co-funded by the Interreg Slovenia-Austria Programme.

The innovation "Innovative hot-runner system with needle valve gate and integrated gas injection," developed by O.P.S. Breznik d.o.o. and UP Faculty of Polymer Technology, received the bronze national award from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS).

On 19 August 2026, the Faculty of Polymer Technology of the University of Primorska (UP FTPO) hosted Dr. Lavinia Alberi Auber and Giulia Corazza from the Swiss company VitalizeDx, which develops the Lavinia digital health platform for monitoring athlete health and performance.

Our Faculty is hosting Julia Hartwig, a bachelor’s student from Johannes Kepler University (JKU) Linz, Austria, for a two-month Erasmus traineeship running from 3 August to 2 October 2026.

The University of Primorska has been awarded the research and innovation action (RIA) project MOSAIC (Materials for Off-site Structured Assembly of Intelligent Composites) as coordinator. The project will be funded under the Horizon Europe programme (call HORIZON-CL4-2025-05-MATERIALS-42). On 14 July 2026, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) confirmed that the proposal had successfully passed the evaluation process and had been invited to proceed with the preparation of the grant agreement.

The Faculty of Polymer Technology in Slovenj Gradec is hosting AM Connect 2026, an international conference on research and industrial advances in additive manufacturing, on 23–24 September 2026. Attendance is free of charge, and the conference will be held exclusively in person and in English.

The IRT Forum (Innovation, Development, Technology) has long been recognized as one of the most important professional events for Slovenian industry, bringing together representatives of industry, research organizations, and development institutions. This year’s IRT Forum 2026 took place on 8 and 9 June in Portorož and was attended by representatives of the University of Primorska Faculty of Polymer Technology (UP FTPO), teaching assistant Tamara Rozman and Head of the Centre for Cooperation with Industry, Silvester Bolka.

At UP FTPO, we believe that modern engineering education does not take place solely in lecture halls, but primarily through direct contact with industry, research institutions, and real technological challenges. For this reason, we provide our students with numerous professional excursions, laboratory exercises in companies, and insights into modern development and production processes already during their studies.

In May and early June 2026, students from different study years and courses visited several successful Slovenian and international companies and research institutions, where they were able to put classroom theory directly into practice.

At this year’s Awards Ceremony for the Best Innovations of the Koroška Region, organised for the 26th consecutive year by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia – Koroška Regional Chamber, the Faculty of Polymer Technology (UP FTPO), together with its industrial partners, received two gold and one silver award for innovation.

On Wednesday, 22 April 2026, the graduation ceremony and awards of the Faculty of Polymer Technology took place at the Cultural Centre Slovenj Gradec. The event was dedicated to graduates, their families, staff, and partners of the faculty, and once again represented an important milestone for a new generation of experts in the field of polymer materials.

FTPO is recruiting a researcher to join the Interreg Slovenia–Austria project reCANet, which FTPO coordinates.

In December 2025, a scientific article entitled "Comparative Role of rGO, AgNWs, and rGO–AgNWs Hybrid Structure in the EMI Shielding Performance of Polyaniline/PCL-Based Flexible Films" was published in the journal Molecules 2025, Volume 30, Issue 24, 4693 (IF=4.6). 

In November 2025, a scientific article entitled "How Method Matters: The Impact of Material Characterisation Techniques on Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Moulding Simulations" was published in the journal Polymers 2025, Volume 17, Issue 22, 3086 (IF=4.9). The article is the result of joint research work by FTPO, PCCL and MUL, with the participation of authors Maurício Azevedo, Silvester Bolka and Clemens Holzer.

In October 2025, a scientific article entitled "Synergistic Integration of Polypyrrole, Graphene Oxide, and Silver Nanowires into Flexible Polymeric Films for EMI Shielding Applications" was published in the journal Molecules2025, Volume 30, Issue 21, 4221 (IF=4.6). The article is the result of joint research work within the Grinshield project, in which the authors participated: Brankica Gajić, Marija Radoičić, Muhammad Yasir, Warda Saeed, Silvester Bolka, Blaž Nardin, Jelena Potočnik, Danica Bajuk-Bogdanović, Gordana Ćirić-Marjanović, Zoran Šaponjić and Svetlana Jovanović.

At the Faculty of Polymer Technology, our work is strongly focused on sustainable development and the circular economy. With modern knowledge and research, we contribute to the development of materials and solutions that reduce environmental impact and enable longer-lasting use of resources. In this spirit, in 2019 we co-organized the first International Circular Packaging Conference with the Institute for Cellulose and Paper, aiming to connect academia, industry, designers, and brands while fostering partnerships to transform linear packaging supply chains into circular ones.

This year, we successfully held the 4th International Circular Packaging Conference (CPC) at the Rog Center in Ljubljana. The event brought together over 90 participants from 21 countries, attending both onsite and online.

Yesterday, we welcomed a new generation of students to the Faculty of Polymer Technology and together embarked on the 2025/2026 academic year.

Today, September 16, 2025, at the Innovation Day at the Brdo Congress Center near Kranj, our faculty, together with partners Additio, L.V.P., TAB-IPM, and KorX, received a bronze national award for innovation from the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS).

In September, Express Polymer Letters (IF=2.6) published the November issue of the journal, in which we published an article entitled Basalt fibers as a sustainable alternative to glass fibers in the reinforcement of polyamide 6 for gear applications. The authors of the article are Rebeka Lorber, József Gábor Kovács, Andreas Hausberger, Polona Umek, Miroslav Huskić, Aleš Hančič.

In August, Express Polymer Letters (IF=2.6) published the October issue of the journal, in which we published an article entitled Repurposed carbon fibre as a polyamide 66 reinforcement in gear applications: Correlation of composition and properties. The authors of the article are Rebeka Lorber, Janez Slapnik, Borut Černe, Andreas Hausberger and Jan Sumfleth.

I come from Koroška, more precisely from Prevalje, but I currently live in Škofja Loka. I completed my secondary education at the Ravne na Koroškem Gymnasium, where I also graduated.