Plaster is one of the oldest binders, used by humans in their earliest attempts at construction. At present, two basic forms of plaster are manufactured industrially - so-called alpha plaster and beta plaster. These two modifications of plaster differ significantly in their final properties, in particular the alpha modification is considerably stronger.

Among the pivotal science-research activities of the Institute of Railway Structures and Constructions at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology, is designing modern, effective railroad structures in connection with increasing train speeds on railroads. One of the important employee inventions which solves the above-mentioned issue and which originates from this institute is a testing slab for under-sleeper pads.

Ing. Radim Nečas, Ph.D. and Ing. Ivana Švaříčková, Ph.D. of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at BUT have created a didactic tool in the form of a bridges construction kit. While enjoying making a model of a bridge, the aim is to teach the basic principles of structural behaviour and how it might be influenced. Thanks to its simplicity, the construction kit can be used to support technical thinking and develop fine motor skills in even the youngest children.

A very frequent cause of the degradation of buildings is increased moisture in a structure which deteriorates the embedded building materials and causes a worsening of their thermal insulation properties and thus of the structure as a whole. A team led by Prof. Škramlik of the Institute of Building Structures at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, BUT, has developed an apparatus which can precisely and repeatedly measure the moisture parameters of porous building materials.