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Faculty of Polymer Technology is the only one in South East Europe offering holistic study programs in polymer technology, covering all aspects: Chemistry and Materials Science, Design and Simulation, Processing, Characterization of polymer materials and Applications.

News

Friday, May 29, 2026

UP FTPO receives two gold and one silver award for innovations in the Koroška region

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.

The awards ceremony took place on 28 May 2026 at the Skrivnosti udobja furniture showroom in Slovenj Gradec. This year’s hosts of the event were the companies KO-SI, KO-SC and Purotehnika. A total of 22 innovation proposals involving more than 135 innovators were submitted to the 2026 competition for the best innovations in the Koroška region.

UP FTPO participated with three innovations developed together with industrial partners and received one silver and two gold awards. With the innovation “Innovative hot-runner system with needle shut-off and integrated gas injection”, UP FTPO also qualified for the national level competition and will compete for awards within the “Innovation Day” event at Brdo pri Kranju.

An important contribution to the development of the innovation “Innovative hot-runner system with needle shut-off and integrated gas injection” was made by UP FTPO graduate Aljaž Kolar, also a representative of O.P.S. Breznik d.o.o., who carried out research work in the field of innovation as part of his master’s thesis.

For more information about the event and other award-winning innovations, please visit the website of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia – Koroška Regional Chamber: GZS – Koroška Regional Chamber.

Silver Award

Applicant: KOPUR d.o.o. and Faculty of Polymer Technology
Innovation: Processing thermoset composite waste into sustainable urban furniture

A bench and raised garden bed made from recycled thermoset composite waste were developed within the DeremCo project. The products demonstrate that difficult-to-recycle waste materials can be successfully transformed into functional, value-added products through advanced grinding and modelling processes, thus contributing to the transition towards a circular economy.

Gold Award

Applicant: KO-SI d.o.o. and Faculty of Polymer Technology
Innovation: Waste coconut fibres as reinforcement for biocomposites

The innovation is the result of cooperation between KO-SI and UP FTPO. The biocomposites are made from 100% biodegradable materials, with part of the material consisting of industrial waste coconut fibres from KO-SI. The solution enables the development of sustainable thermoplastic composites for applications in fruit growing and horticulture.

Gold Award and qualification for the national level

Innovation: Innovative hot-runner system with needle shut-off and integrated gas injection

The innovation was developed in cooperation with O.P.S. Breznik d.o.o. It represents a hybrid plastic injection moulding system with gas injection directly through the needle shut-off nozzle of the hot-runner system. The key element of the innovation is the integration of a porous insert with a gas channel for gas injection directly into the shut-off needle of the system.

The innovation ranked among the highest-rated projects and will compete for national-level awards at the GZS Innovation Day event at Brdo pri Kranju.

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Faculty of Polymer Technology is an internationally recognized academic institution tightly linked with the economic sector. It grows on the excellence of study, development and research work, while also enabling students and industry to acquire knowledge in one of the most interesting technical fields in the world.

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Faculty of Polymer Technology is a private non-profit higher education and research institution based in Slovenj Gradec

Faculty of Polymer Technology is a private non-profit higher education and research institution based in Slovenj Gradec. It was founded in 2006 as Polymer Technology College and was promoted to Faculty by the Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in February 2017.

Its founders are companies from Slovene plastics industry (Adient Slovenj Gradec d.o.o., Grammer Automotive Slovenija d.o.o., Plastika Skaza d.o.o., Kopur d.o.o., BSH Hišni aparati d.o.o. Nazarje), Regional institutions (Municipality of Slovenj Gradec, RRA Koroška d.o.o) and Industry associations/Research organisations (GIZ Grozd Plasttehnika, TECOS - Razvojni center orodjarstva Slovenije).

Others about us

Boris Maroh, inž. tehnol. pol.
Researcher - Polymer competence center Leoben GmbH

I will always remember countless debates from all the lectures that our group of eight students attended. We were the first generation of MA students of Polymer Technology. My Master’s degree enabled me to continue my career path in polymer materials abroad, as well as to continue my studies at University of Leoben.

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Igor Skaza,, Owner and Managing Director of
Plastika Skaza d.o.o.

The services that the Faculty of Polymer Technology offers help solve the problems that we encounter in our production and development of products. They help us reach our company goals. We have been successfully cooperating for many years; they offer quality solutions and are a responsive and a reliable partner that helps us grow and fulfil our mission – to create high quality products from Eco-friendly Plastics.

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Tadeja Rožanc,
Graduate

The faculty organises meetings with foreign experts and professionals, company visits, use of laboratory, and a whole list of practically oriented skills which definitely play a much more decisive role when talking to employers than the actual evaluation grades in the grade book.

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Žan Skodlar,
BA Student of Polymer Technology

The studies at FTPO are practically oriented and offer lectures from a range of professionals connected to the business sector as well, which quarantines high quality education for the students and enables them to have excellent employment opportunities.

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Education, Research and Industry cooperation

As the only academic institution focusing on polymer technology in Slovenia, Faculty of Polymer Technology bases its activities on three pillars: Education, Research and Industry cooperation. We provide our students with the necessary knowledge and skills to become innovative and competent engineers that are fit for responsible tasks in their future assignments. We support society and industry in Slovenia and beyond to cope with the increasingly competitive economic and rapidly changing technological environment by knowledge creation through innovative application oriented research on polymer materials and technologies, Know-How transfer and opportunities for life long learning. We live by our values – Responsiveness, Continuous improvement, Practical Attitude and Personal Approach – to achieve these goals.