Univ of Ljubljana& JSI in Focus

University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest higher education and scientific research institution in Slovenia. University with its rich tradition was founded in 1919. It has more than 40.000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and employs approximately 5.600 higher education teachers, researchers, assistants and administrative staff in 23 faculties and three arts academies. The University of Ljubljana is renowned for its quality social, natural sciences, and technical study programmes and is listed amongst the top 500 universities in the world according to the ARWU Shanghai, Times THES-QS and WEBOMETRICS rankings.

The main role of University of Ljubljana, as a HEAT-SHIELD project partner, is to actively seek to communicate with relevant stakeholders in order to maximise expected research results impact. This includes consultation meetings with stakeholders from the key industry sectors across Europe and preparation of guidance documents based on the results of the previous work packages for open public consultation. Important task will be the publication by the consortium final reports, one for each industry sector addressed in HEAT-SHIELD. Final publications will incorporate the proposed strategies and recommendations of the project as well as an assessment of their health, economic and social benefits, and their impact on reducing inequalities.

Curriculum Vitae Lucka Kajfez Bogataj

Current positions:

Professor of Meteorology and climatology at Biotehnical Faculty and at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Head of Centre for Agrometeorology at University of Ljubljana

Education:

B.Sc. Physics, University of Ljubljana, 1980
M.Sc. Biometeorology, University of Ljubljana, 1989
Ph.D. Biometeorology, University of Ljubljana, 1992

Relevant Professional Affiliations:

1992–2009 Editorial Board Member of "Agricultural and Forrest Meteorology"
2000–2005 Chairman of WG2 for EC-COST719 Action on Agrometeorological models
2002–2008 Member of IPCC Bureau: Vice-Chair of Working Group II, Geneva and Co-chair of IPCC Outreach task group
2006–2012 Member of GCOS (Global climate observation system) Steering Committee at WMO acting as a link between GCOS and IPCC
2006–2010 Chairman of WG3 for EC-COST 719 Project Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on European Agriculture
2008–2009 Member of International Organizing Committee (WIOC) contributing to the organization of WCC-3.
2009–2014 Review editor of IPCC AR5, Working Group II, Geneva
2012–2015 Member of GWP (Global Water Partnership) Steering Committe

Ambitions/intended input/output from participating in the project:

Ambition is to help EU workers to adapt to climate change induced thermal strain in innovative ways
I look forward to help communities and stakeholders across EU to educate themselves about the risks from extreme heat and learn how to protect their residents/employees
Ambition is to expand and improve outreach systems and to address the interaction of heat waves and other existing environmental problems (like air quality problems in major urban areas, water shortages etc.)
Input concerns climate change expertise in particular on adaptation and communication

Website – https://www.uni-lj.si/eng/

Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia

The Jožef Stefan Institute is the leading Slovenian scientific research institute, covering a broad spectrum of basic and applied research. The staff of more than 960 specializes in natural sciences, life sciences and engineering.

The subjects concern production and control technologies, communication and computer technologies, knowledge technologies, biotechnologies, new materials, environmental technologies, nanotechnologies, and nuclear engineering.

The mission of the Jožef Stefan Institute is the accumulation – and dissemination – of knowledge at the frontiers of natural science and technology to the benefit of society at large through the pursuit of education, learning, research, and development of high technology at the highest international levels of excellence.

The Jožef Stefan Institute is participating in WP3, WP4 and WP7 of the HEAT-SHIELD project and is lead beneficiary of D3.3 and D3.4.

Curriculum Vitae Igor B. Mekjavic

EDUCATION:

B.Sc. (Honours), Biomedical Electronics; Elec. Eng. (1977), University of Salford (UK)

M.Sc. Underwater Technology; Elec. Eng. (1978), University of Salford (UK)

Ph.D. Environmental Physiology (1983), Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada.

Post Doctoral Fellow (1983) Environmental Medicine (1983) Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Scientific Counselor and Full Professor, Institute Jozef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, BC Canada

Research director, Programme group Automation, Robotics and Biocybernetics (FTE=9.6)

Member, NATO Human Factors and Medicine (HFM) Panel 238: Reducing dismounted soldiers’ burden

Coordinator, FP7 Marie Curie project and Space project

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:

1989 Chairman Graduate Programme Committee, School of Kinesiology, SFU, B.C. (Canada)

1991 Director, School of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, B.C. (Canada)

& Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana (slovenia)

1992 Full Professor, School of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, B.C. (Canada)

1999 Research Associate, Inst. Biomedical and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Portsmouth (UK)

RESEARCH (relevant to Heat Shield)

Initial research programme in Canada focused on human temperature regulation. In 2001, established a research programme on the effect of inactivity/unloading on physiological systems, in the Orthopaedic Hospital Valdoltra. This programme was then continued at the Olympic Sport Centre Planica, where we continue to investigate the effect of the anticipated environment (hypobaric hypoxic) in future Lunar and Mars habitats on astronauts and cosmonauts. With Swedish and UK colleagues we are regularly involved in the assessment of military protective clothing for extreme environmental conditions. With team of researchers at JSI developed a family of sweating thermal manikins for evaluating the thermal and evaporative resistances of clothing, which have been purchased by industry and research institutes, and have gained the Government of Slovenia Puh Award for transfer of technology to industry: sweating thermal foot (for evaluating footwear), hand (for evaluating gloves), head (for evaluating helmets), torso (for evaluating jackets), and whole body (for evaluating sleeping bags and clothing ensembles) manikins. The Flash Fire simulator, together with a flame manikin, was deemed by the UK Ministry of Defence as being the best facility in the world. The UK MOD also sponsored the development of a drowning manikin for evaluating buoyancy devices (jackets), and the development of a radio pill system for monitoring deep body temperature of commercial divers conducting dives to 120 m in the North Sea.

AMBITIONS/INTENDED INPUT/OUTPUT FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE PROJECT:

• Meet Heat Shield Milestones and provide assigned Heat Shield Deliverables.

• Participate in effort that will have significant and lasting effect on the well-being of EU workers, and on the productivity of EU key industries.

• Develop (together with Heat Shield partners):

- thermoregulatory manikin

- system for monitoring ambient conditions in factories.

- system for monitoring well-being of workers in industrial settings.

- protocol for evaluating technology and strategies for mitigating heat strain in worker

Website – https://www.ijs.si/ijsw/JSI