Sunday January 04, 2009

The Excellent Czech Technical University

Sun Microsystems' newest Center of Excellence is Czech Technical University in Prague - specifically their Department of Computer Graphics and Interaction. What makes this Center of Excellence particular special and noteworthy is that it is the first such Sun Center focused specifically on accessibility. This department has been working on accessibility and human computer interaction for a long time, and likewise collaborating with Sun for many years. The Center of Excellence is a natural outgrowth of both of these. See the press release here (or here for the English version).

During my brief visit to Prague last month, I had the distinct pleasure of speaking at the opening ceremonies of the Center of Excellence. Several members of the press were present, and Jan Rylich has published an article about the event (in Czech). My colleague Jira Mzourek also took photos of the event. My favorite photo shows my champagne glass distorting the smiling face of Pavel Suk, the site director for Sun Prague (somewhat similar to my favorite photo of Jack Nicholson as taken by Annie Liebowitz).

I've always enjoyed my visits to Prague (I was first there with Sun two years ago for World Usability Day 2006), and hope to return soon! (2009-01-04 17:36:50.0) Permalink