Where the Engineering and Nature Meet: 100 Years of the Birth of Rajko Tomović

An international scientific conference titled’ Where the Engineering and Nature Meet: 100 Years of the Birth of Rajko Tomović’ is to open at the SASA Grand Hall, on Friday, 1 November, at 9.30 a.m.

Academician Rajko Tomović was a world-renowned scientist, a dedicated professor, a founder of one of the first laboratories for robotics in Europe and lecturer at the most prestigious universities. Describing his long-standing cooperation with Professor Tomović, Academician Dejan Popović declared: ‘To meet and spend a part of life with Academician Rajko Tomović was a privilege. Rajko Tomović was able to be a strict parent, a teacher letting his students’ imagination fly and a friend opening new worlds. He had unusual energy which gave wings to his associates, but it also recognized that the flight was a pleasure only to those able to land; it provided flippers to those wishing to swim across the ocean who still understand the perils of it, but perceive as necessary to reach the desired coast.’

Wanting to learn how nature and living beings function and noting the principles nature created through evolution, Rajko Tomović tried to transfer a part of it to the technology. Therefore it is important to understand neurosciences, the manner of brain’s organization, what connections there are with the spinal cord and periphery i.e. with the sensorimotor system, so that, if these connections are disrupted, the very structures could be acted upon and signals to operate machines could be replicated from them.

The first, scientific part of the conference is dedicated precisely to various methods of communication with the brain and spinal cord. The second part is devoted to the application of this research, and it also comprises addresses of close colleagues and associates of Professor R. Tomović.

According to Academician Dejan Popović, it is particularly significant that Academician Tadej Bajd, president of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts takes part in the conference, as he will talk about the Belgrade-Ljubljana connection, as well as about the impact they all together have made in the world.

The goal of the conference is to introduce young scientists as well to who Rajko Tomović was, to updates in the scientific field, so that some of the ideas that Tomovic had actually become a reality one day.

The conference is held at the SASA Grand Hall.

Programme of the conference and abstracts (in English)

VIDEO

Welcome message
Dejan Popović
Andrea d’Avella
Michael A. Nitsche
Igor M. Nikolić
Natalie Mrachacz-Kersting
Ina Tarkka
Tadej Bajd
Srđan Stanković
Srbijanka Turajlić
Veljko Potkonjak