Telltale Cracks, a Digital Twin of a Highway, and a Medical Device Tested in Space – 2025 at BME

January

Due to voltage problems caused by the increasing number of household solar panels, their expansion had to be restricted in Hungary — despite the fact that the use of renewable energy would clearly be desirable for both climate protection and cost-efficiency reasons. Researchers at the Smart Power Lab of the Department of Electric Power Engineering at BME’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics found a solution to this dilemma. As our article revealed, the solution is already embedded in existing devices — what is needed is proper coordination by specialists:

BME researchers could solve the nationwide solar panel issue at once

February

The residual heat of various types of factories could be used for heating, but building so many pipelines would be complicated and expensive. Other solutions for transporting heat can solve the problem, like the mobile heat storage system developed with the help of BME. It works with a so-called phase change material, which absorbs heat during melting and releases it during solidification. The pilot project is already operational in a Hungarian village:

A new dimension of heating with residual heat delivered by truck

March

Researchers at the Faculty of Architecture demonstrated that, based on a single image of crack patterns on a surface — be it rock, ice, or mud — it is possible with high probability to determine whether water played a significant role in the formation of those patterns. To achieve this, they developed a complex mathematical model that makes it possible to predict the future of a surface — and then reconstruct its past:

BME Researchers' Mathematical Model Could Help Find Water on Extraterrestrial Bodies

April

It is hard to imagine that one of the oldest tools of human civilization could still be improved. What could make a plough work better than at any time over the past 5000 years? The answer was found at the Department of Machine and Product Design of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Researchers discovered that a ploughshare mounted on a flexibly supported plough body, when properly calibrated, can outperform a rigid one in terms of efficiency. Measurements showed that a well-adjusted spring-mounted plough head requires 5–9 percent less traction force:

Ploughing ahead: BME researchers modernise ancient farming tool

May

One of the world’s smartest highway sections is located on the M1/M7 motorway, just outside Budapest, monitored by 39 state-of-the-art instruments. Experts from Magyar Közút Ltd. and BME built a system that collects 1.5 gigabytes of data per second to create a complete digital representation of the road section. This digital twin is expected to support numerous future developments in traffic safety:

Making roads safer – even without self-driving cars

June

During their space mission, Tibor Kapu and the Ax-4 crew conducted several experiments, one of which tested a device developed by BME instructors that could replace the need for inconvenient eye drops applied several times a day. The invention of Spinsplit Ltd. initially offers a solution to a major challenge of space travel, but if successful, it could also make certain treatments more effective and simpler in ophthalmic care on Earth:

Eye Treatments Could Become Simpler Thanks to Tibor Kapu’s Space Experiment

July

Researchers at BME’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, in collaboration with Japanese and Turkish colleagues, are working to ensure that future traffic lights will no longer be rigidly programmed systems but intelligent devices dynamically controlled by algorithms, capable of predicting traffic patterns and adapting in advance. The AI-based traffic management solution is being tested in an especially challenging environment, namely, Istanbul:

Traffic jams should be prevented, not eased

August

Live deepfake technology, which falsifies video in real time, poses a serious challenge for IT security experts. As more and more activities move online, the scope for fraud increases as well. This is why the joint development of researchers at BME’s Department of Automation and Applied Informatics and TC&C Ltd., the Deepfake Guard platform, is of great importance. The system is capable of detecting audio- and video-based deepfake manipulations in real time during live communication:

BME researchers develop protection against the most sophisticated online scam

September

A major milestone in a development that counts as a true novelty even in the international automotive industry: a radically new simulation system for a wide-angle head-up display (HUD) based on groundbreaking principles. It's better than existing technological solutions in a number of areas, and will also be useful in the era of self-driving cars:

BME Researchers Develop Next-Generation Windshield Display

October

This year marked the tenth anniversary of the approval of cariprazine, the antipsychotic drug developed by Richter, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This approval launched the success story of the first entirely Hungary-developed original drug to gain international recognition in decades. Generating more than USD 3 billion in annual revenue, a key episode of the drug’s development took place at BME. This often overlooked story is recalled in our article:

BME has also contributed to the most successful Hungarian medicine

November

A multidisciplinary project involving researchers from BME and HUN-REN was the first to describe the unique internal structure of the mandibular apparatus of ammonites — marine molluscs that lived 150 million years ago. Using new mathematical tools to analyze the spatial arrangement of crystals, the team’s discovery may revolutionize the methodology used to study fossil structures.

Hungarian researchers have unlocked the secret of the extraordinary mandibular apparatus of Jurassic ammonites

December

The Vehicle Dynamics and Control Research Group at the Department of Automotive Engineering developed a technology capable of controlling a vehicle after it has begun to skid — handling the situation even more effectively than a professional driver. The significance of the innovation lies in the fact that it keeps vehicles controllable beyond the traction limit, potentially preventing a large proportion of run-off-road accidents. The invention was already granted a single European patent.

BME's revolutionary development could reduce accidents caused by skidding

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At the Department of Morphology and Geometric Modeling, researchers created the world’s first four-faced roly-poly object: a monostable tetrahedron that always returns to the same face from any position. By creating the geometric object, nicknamed Bille, BME researchers proved a 40-year-old conjecture. Even more importantly, the design principles involved could assist in the development of spacecraft.

BME Researchers Confirm a Forty-Year-Old Conjecture by Discovering a New Geometric Body

Rector's Office, Communications Directorate