OSTROJ team connects and takes 6th place in Prague

The winning momentum from the January regional round of the T-PROFI competition (Talents for Companies) brought the OSTROJ team from Opava all the way to the heart of the country. On 17 and 18 June 2026, we represented the Moravian-Silesian Region at the jubilee 10th national final in Prague, where 13 elite teams from Czechia and Poland competed against one another.

The OSTROJ team consisted of an excellently coordinated group. Fifth-grade pupils from Božena Němcová Primary School in Opava and second-year students from the Secondary Technical School. They were supported both technically and organisationally not only by their teachers, but also by our design engineer Richard Zygula and marketing specialist Kateřina Slivková.

The entire two-day trip began early on Wednesday, 17 June, at the railway station in Opava. Equipped with team T-shirts and in high spirits, our representatives travelled via Ostrava to the Aquapalace Hotel in Prague. The first day was dedicated to accommodation, well-deserved relaxation in the aquapark and, most importantly, the official opening ceremony, a group photo session and the first introduction to the competition task. The organisers unveiled the competition model made from the Merkur construction set — an automated production line model with pneumatic drive. The competitors had to incorporate into the machine a pressure gauge holder, which they had been required to design and 3D print as their homework assignment.

However, the real technical challenge came on Thursday morning.

“The teams had only two hours of working time to fully assemble and commission the model. We had to ensure the precise placement of all bolted joints, perfectly balance all mechanical components and correctly connect all pneumatic elements, as this time the model operated using compressed air rather than electricity. After assembly, the model underwent a strict inspection by the expert jury,” describes Richard Zygula.

Thanks to the kids precise manual work and the excellent guidance of their teachers, we achieved approximately 380 points, which earned us a fantastic 6th place in the overall ranking.

“We are extremely pleased with the result. We showed that, as a team, we can work together very effectively and that technical challenges are something we truly enjoy. We are already thinking about how to succeed in the next year of the competition. The motivation to defend our regional victory for the third time and return to the national final is enormous,” concludes Richard Zygula with a smile.

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