He called it BE[A]ST, meaning "animal", or "best". When Filip Páral, a student of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Brno University of Technology, wanted to evaluate in his bachelor's thesis which of the jets for fire sports is the best, he found out that none is ideal. He was not satisfied with the result and, in addition to the final work, he designed his own jet, which combines the best of the existing solutions. He has licensed a utility model from the university, which protects the jet, and is preparing to place it on the market.
Although Filip Páral studied automotive and traffic engineering, he never enjoyed cars very much. On the other hand, in his native village Bořitov in the Blansko region, he has been involved in fire sports since he was a child. "When I looked around choosing the topic of my bachelor's thesis in my second year, I was not interested in any topic related to cars. So I thought that I would combine pleasant with useful and try to analyse which jet is the best on the market," Páral says.
When Filip Páral and his team practice on the so-called fire attack, which among firefighters is called the "royal discipline" of fire sports, it is he who, as one of the two streamers, has the task of hitting a target. He thus has the first-hand experience with jets. "During the analysis, I found out that none of the jets available on the market is perfect. So I decided to design my own, which will learn from the mistakes and weaknesses of others," Páral recalls. He addressed Simona Fialová from Viktor Kaplan Department of Fluid Engineering, who agreed and led his work. "She was wonderfully willing, and often did more than she had to," Paral praises.
During the development, he had to combine two fundamental parameters: current regulation and pressure drop. Compact current is important to better aim at the target. This is because when the water stream expands into a cone shape, the jet water obscures the view of the streamer. The pressure drop can again be imagined as a recoil when firing from a pistol. It is again the fault of the water: it reaches the jet, which at the end narrows to less than a third of the inlet diameter, which causes a sharp jerk. "It will always be a compromise between these two criteria. If I solve one perfectly, the problem spills over into the other," Páral explains the construction of the jet called BE[A]ST, where he tried to balance the mentioned parameters as much as possible. In addition, he supplemented his jet with non-slip surface treatment and balanced it so that athletes could run better with it.
Young businessman
Why did he embark on a task beyond the bachelor's thesis at all? "I like challenges. It works best for me when someone tells me something does not work. I just bit into it and wanted to finish it. It was martyrdom and I tried everything possible: from development, through design, finding suppliers, to marketing and web design," Páral says.
With a jet, which was protected by a utility model secured by BUT, the student decided to start a business. He, therefore, concluded a license agreement with the university. "The Technology Transfer Department focuses more on the protection and commercialization of employees’ technical solutions, coming into contact with students' inventions less often. There are only a few student inventions a year. In this case, we entered into negotiations by mutual agreement with Mr. Páral and ensured the granting of a utility model protecting the jet and the settlement of all obligations so that Mr. Páral could safely produce and sell the jet," Roman Molík, the Head of BUT's Technology Transfer Department explained.
As a beginning entrepreneur, Filip Páral is self-taught. He is mainly inspired by the stories of other businessmen, he listens to podcasts and interviews. He tried to arrange production in China, but the price of the product would be too high. Eventually, he found a manufacturer in Brno, at the end of May the first 50 pieces went into production. Although its stream will be one of the most expensive on the market, it already has the first customers in pre-orders.
But it probably won't make a living. "It will not support me for a long time. But I would like the money invested to return to me and if I have any profit left that I can invest in further development. And if not, it gave me at least a lot of experience," Páral concludes.