Alumni Awards

Award Recipients

We honor alumni who have achieved extraordinary success, significantly contributed to society, or supported the Faculty's development. Typically, the Faculty awards two alumni per year. In 2025, to mark the Faculty's 20th anniversary, six alumni were exceptionally awarded.

2025 Awards – 20 Years of FBMI

Ing. Štěpánka Říhová

Business Unit Director THV Nordics & Baltics, Edwards Lifesciences

Ing. Štěpánka Říhová earned her bachelor's degree at FBMI and worked her way up to the management of Edwards Lifesciences. As the Business Unit Director for Transcatheter Heart Valves in Northern Europe and the Baltics, she manages development strategies and the implementation of minimally invasive treatment methods. Previously, she led clinical education for the EMEA region, setting up training programs for physicians. In her work, she effectively bridges biomedical engineering with business strategy and management.

Ing. et Ing. Martin Pekař, Ph.D.

Patent Attorney Trainee

Ing. et Ing. Martin Pekař, Ph.D., is a graduate of FBMI and FEL CTU. He obtained his doctorate through the Marie Curie program at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam and subsequently worked as a researcher at Philips, where he received the Outstanding Achievement Award. He is the author of numerous patents and currently focuses on intellectual property protection. He has long supported FBMI students by facilitating internships abroad, doctoral positions, and sharing practical know-how.

Sridharan Rukmani, PhD

Senior Regulatory Associate, Eli Lilly

Dr. Sridharan Rukmani graduated from the Erasmus Mundus CEMACUBE program at FBMI with a double degree (CTU and Trinity College Dublin). She earned her PhD in bioengineering from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Specializing in regulatory documentation for global drug approval, she has worked at Gilead Sciences and is now with Eli Lilly. She is the author of highly cited publications (h-index 13) and significantly contributed to promoting CTU abroad during her studies.

Ing. Jaroslav Hrubý, Ph.D.

Professor at UHasselt

Ing. Jaroslav Hrubý, Ph.D., is a graduate of FBMI CTU and currently works as a professor at Hasselt University in Belgium, leading research on quantum technologies for space applications. During his doctoral studies, he led the OSCAR-QUBE team, whose magnetometer successfully operated for 10 months on the International Space Station (ISS). He is a co-author of publications in Science and Nature Communications and holds a patent for the PDMR method. His team is currently developing sensors for the European Space Rider module and preparing an experiment for a Belgian astronaut's mission in 2025. He maintains close ties with the Faculty.

Ing. Mgr. Martina Nováková, Ph.D.

Application Specialist, Siemens Healthineers

Ing. Mgr. Martina Nováková, Ph.D., earned both her engineering and doctoral degrees at FBMI. She began her career as the Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Masaryk Hospital in Ústí nad Labem. Since 2015, she has worked as an Application Specialist at Siemens Healthineers. She is an active committee member of the professional society ČSBMILI and is dedicated to the development, teaching, and popularization of biomedical and clinical engineering in the Czech Republic.

Bc. Štěpán Kvapil

Paramedic, Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, USAR Team Member

Bc. Štěpán Kvapil is a graduate of the Paramedic program. He works for the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic as a medic and expert guarantor for water rescue. As a member of the elite USAR team, he participated in the 2023 mission to Turkey following the devastating earthquake. At FBMI, he is actively involved in teaching 3rd-year students, leading water rescue training, and passing on valuable experience from international humanitarian operations and crisis management.

2024 Awards

Ing. Zuzana Přikrylová

Head of Medical Devices Department, VZP ČR

Ing. Zuzana Přikrylová has worked for over 12 years at the General Health Insurance Company (VZP ČR), specializing in medical devices and currently leading the relevant department. Her work focuses on setting reimbursement rules for medical devices and collaborating with state administration, professional societies, and manufacturers. She has long been involved in creating legislation and strategic documents in healthcare. She graduated from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at CTU and continues to maintain contact with the Faculty as an industry expert. Her work directly impacts the availability and quality of healthcare for millions of insured people in the Czech Republic.

Ing. Michal Jordán

Patent Attorney and CEO at PatentEnter

Ing. Michal Jordán is a patent attorney and expert in intellectual property protection strategy with extensive experience in patent searches, FTO analyses, and licensing. He began profiling himself in the IP field during his studies at BUT and FBMI CTU while working at Linet, where he gradually moved from electronics development to the position of Innovation Manager. Since then, he has lectured at professional conferences, educated companies and students, cooperated with institutions such as CzechTrade, CzechInvest, JIC, MSIC, or SIC, and regularly appears in the IAM Patent 1000 rankings. He is the founder and CEO of PatentEnter s.r.o., a member of the RedButton network, and a JIC expert coaching technology companies. He is authorized to represent clients before Czech, European, and international intellectual property offices, aiming to implement meaningful IP strategies that impact the market success of innovations.

2023 Awards

Dr. Anna Stejskalová

Researcher at Wyss Institute, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Anna Stejskalová, a graduate of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at CTU, earned her bachelor's degree in 2012. She continued her studies in Dublin, Groningen, and at Imperial College London, where she developed new force-responsive biomaterials during her PhD. After moving to Germany, she designed 3D models for endometriosis research and currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University. She is actively involved in the community of Czech scientists abroad as a co-founder of Czexpats in Science. For her research achievements, she received the Emerging Alumni Leader Award 2021 at Imperial College London, becoming the youngest laureate in history. She continues to maintain contact with the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at CTU.

Ing. Petr Brůža, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Engineering, Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth

Ing. Petr Brůža, Ph.D., is a graduate of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at CTU, earning his Ing. degree in 2010 and Ph.D. in 2014. During his studies, he focused on hardware development for biophysical experiments, taught electronics, and completed a research stay at Brown University. After his doctorate, he worked at ELI Beamlines and subsequently as a postdoc at Dartmouth College, where he has been an Assistant Professor of Engineering since 2018. He is the author of numerous scientific publications with over a thousand citations and a two-time recipient of the Best in Physics Imaging Award from AAPM. He co-owns DoseOptics, leading a project on sensor development for proton therapy. He actively collaborates with Dartmouth Health hospital on developing imaging systems for medical applications and maintains ties with CTU and the Czech Academy of Sciences, supporting student collaboration.

2022 Awards

Ing. Markéta Icha Kubánková, Ph.D.

Researcher at Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

Markéta Icha Kubánková is a graduate of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at CTU, where she earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees with honors. In 2013, she received the prestigious President's Scholarship at Imperial College London, where her doctoral research focused on developing optical methods to monitor protein aggregation, a key process in neurodegenerative diseases. After receiving the EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship, she has been working at the Max Planck Institute in Erlangen since 2018, developing diagnostic methods for analyzing the mechanical properties of cells. Beyond research, she is involved in teaching, science communication, and volunteering. She is a member of the Senate's advisory body for Czech expatriates and a co-founder of the Czexpats in Science platform. She maintains active cooperation with the Faculty.

Jan Rieger, M.Sc.

CEO at AURA Health Technologies

Jan Rieger, MSc., completed his bachelor's studies at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at CTU in 2008. Thanks to his extraordinary talent and motivation, he was accepted as one of the top 20 students worldwide for the master's program in biomedical engineering at RWTH Aachen. He worked as a researcher at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin and contributed to the development of innovative MRI coils at MRI.TOOLS. He remained in close contact with the Faculty, initiating both teaching and research activities. Since 2016, at Somatex, he focused on developing tools for breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prenatal therapy. His unique navigation method for breast surgery led to the creation of a technology start-up, where he has served as CTO since 2021. He is the author of patents and highly cited publications, and his work has a direct impact on clinical practice.