On 21–23 October 2026, the traditional international scientific seminar PROCESSING AND PROPERTIES OF ADVANCED CERAMICS AND GLASS, together with the joint annual meeting of the Slovak Silicate Scientific-Technological Society, was held in Habovka.
This year, the event was organized by the Department of Inorganic Materials of the Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava in cooperation with the Slovak Silicate Scientific-Technological Society. The seminar focused on current topics in the field of advanced ceramic and glass materials, with the main theme of this year’s edition being additive manufacturing of ceramic, glass and composite materials. Other areas included the development of advanced ceramics and composites, functional ceramics and glasses, UHTC and HEC materials, porous ceramics and bioceramics, ceramic and glass coatings, characterisation and testing of materials, as well as surface modification techniques.
Within the seminar programme, the President of the Polish Silicate Society, Prof. dr hab. inż. Zbigniew Pędzich, presented the Polish Ceramic Society Award to Assoc. Prof. Ing. Miroslav Hnatko, PhD, a member of the Department of Ceramics at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry SAS. He awarded him the distinction for his significant contribution to the development of advanced ceramic materials, research on ceramic composites (especially based on Si₃N₄/SiC), and for his long-term contribution to materials science and the building of the Department of Ceramics at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry SAS. Assoc. Prof. Miroslav Hnatko is also the Director of the Centre for Advanced Materials Application of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (CEMEA SAS, v.v.i.), where he continues to focus on research into the application of ceramic materials in biomedicine and energy.
The second awardee was Ing. Alexandra Kovalčíková, PhD, who serves as Scientific Secretary and Chair of the Scientific Board of the Institute of Materials Research SAS, v.v.i. Her professional focus includes, among other areas, advanced ceramic materials and carbide systems intended for extreme-temperature applications.
Prof. RNDr. Pavol Šajgalík, DrSc. works at the Slovak Academy of Sciences at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, specifically in the Department of Ceramics. He is an expert in ceramics and materials science focusing on oxide and non-oxide high-performance ceramics and the relationships between microstructure and mechanical properties of these materials. In the years 2015–2025 he served three consecutive terms as President of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; since 2025 he has been Vice-Chair of its Scientific Board. He is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, a Fellow of the European Ceramic Society (its President in 2015–2018), a member of the Ceramic Society of Japan, an elected member of the World Academy of Ceramics and of the European Academy of Sciences. He is the President of the Slovak Silicate Scientific-Technological Society.
Prof. dr hab. inż. Zbigniew Pędzich works at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków (AGH University of Krakow) at the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, specifically at the Department of Ceramics and Refractory Materials. He is an expert in ceramic technologies and the production of ceramic composites, specializing in sintered polycrystals, advanced ceramic materials and ultra-high-temperature structural ceramics (UHTC). Since 2020 he has been Head of the Department of Ceramics and Refractory Materials; between 2016 and 2020 he served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics. He is a Fellow of the European Ceramic Society (2013), a member of its Council, an elected member of the World Academy of Ceramics, and President of the Polish Ceramic Society (since 2009).