After a successful first excursion with children, we set off again on February 4, 2025, to Preciosa Ornela in Desná. This time, however, with a completely different group of participants. Once again, the excursion took place using a rented bus, and this time, we divided the seats between two distinct groups.
The smaller half of the bus was filled with students from the Department of Design at the Faculty of Textile Engineering of the Technical University of Liberec, along with their academic staff. These fashion designers are preparing outfits for a fashion show based on 3D printing as part of the InterBridge project. Since they plan to incorporate glass components into their outfits, it was essential for them to see the bead production process firsthand and gain inspiration for their work.
The other half of the bus was occupied by students from the University of the Third Age (U3A) at TUL, from whom we anticipated great interest – and this was confirmed. All available seats were booked within half an hour of the announcement, further emphasizing the attractiveness of this excursion.
We departed at 8 AM from the Information Center of TUL and arrived at our destination around 9 AM. Our guides were already waiting for us, ready to take us through the entire premises and thoroughly explain the glass bead manufacturing process. Unlike the first excursion with children, this time we had the opportunity to see an older, traditional production method, where molten glass was manually pulled from the furnace and fed into machines that stretched it across the entire hall into long glass tubes. These tubes were then cut into smaller pieces. This glimpse into historical production provided an interesting contrast to the modern methods used today.
The participants of the excursion were delighted. Unlike the previous children's trip, this time there was no spontaneous snowball fight. Instead, the students from the Department of Design and U3V were very disciplined, strictly following instructions, and the organization went smoothly. A funny observation – I passed around an attendance sheet on the bus. Surprisingly, not only did it return complete, but even the pen remained intact, which sometimes doesn't happen on children's trips. :-)
The excursion ended with a pleasant surprise. Participants were allowed to enter a room filled with bags of defective beads, from which they could take as many as they wanted. The designers took full advantage of this opportunity and arranged for several buckets of beads to be sent directly to their department, where they will serve as material for their creative textile designs. A big thank you to Preciosa for this generous offer!
Even though nothing dramatic happened during the excursion, it was very beneficial and took place in a relaxed atmosphere. We thank all participants for their great cooperation and look forward to more events within the InterBridge project!
Hana Křížová
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