Electron microscopy yesterday and today: Jiří Kala recalls the beginnings of the field in Brno

Once again, CEITEC was involved in the Electron Microscopy Days, an annual festival which aims at popularizing the field among the general public. The programme culminated on Saturday and attracted hundreds of visitors of all ages. One of them was Mr. Jiří Kala, now 90 years old, who was at the beginning of the production of a small bench-top transmission electron microscope in our country. Excited about the progress the field has made in Brno, Mr. Kala recalls the time of the production of the first microscopes in our country.

Electron Microscopy Days

Did you know that every third electron microscope comes from Brno? And that electron microscopes from Brno are used, for example, by NASA or Harvard University? Brno is a world centre for the development and production of electron microscopes. It is an ecosystem that involves a wide range of actors, from academic institutions and scientific centres to manufacturing companies and public institutions such as the City of Brno and the South Moravian Region. As electron microscopy is a key area for the region, a field-popularising activity called Electron Microscopy Days (EMD) has been running in Brno since 2017. Whether you are an expert or a layman, an adult or a child, during the last week of March, a number of Brno institutions open the doors to otherwise inaccessible laboratories, showing those interested in the microworld what it is like to work in this field.

CEITEC BUT has traditionally been involved in the EMD programme as well. This year, our scientists have prepared a rich programme for schools and the general public. The programme culminated on Saturday morning, when instead of quiet measurements in the labs (CEITEC Nano cleanrooms are open 24/7 and many colleagues from CEITEC BUT and external users take advantage of the lower traffic to work on their projects), our premises came alive with popular science activities revolving around this year’s EMD theme “Villain, or Hero?”. Workers prepared two guided tours for the public, as well as a lecture, and physics experiments and games. Visitors – from children to students to the elderly – learned during the varied programme why scientists often have to deal with "villains" such as dust, disturbing physical phenomena or complicated sample preparation. However, the heroes of scientific research – cutting-edge technology, clean laboratories, and above all the scientists themselves, who push the boundaries of human knowledge through their efforts – also came to the fore.

One of these is Jiří Kala.

CEITEC/Jakub Rozboud: Jiří Kala at Electron microscopy days 2025

A living chronicle of electron microscopy

During Saturday's programme for the public, we were honoured by a visit from Mr. Jiří Kala, a ninety-year-old man and former expert in the field of transmission electron microscopy. He enthusiastically toured the laboratories, met the new generation in his field and shared with us his memories of the beginnings of mass production of electron microscopes in Brno.

CEITEC/Jakub Rozboud: Jiří Kala and Ondřej Man in a lab, Electron microscopy days 2025

Mr. Jiří Kala was born in 1934 in Brno, where he also received his education and graduated in 1957 in the field of low-current electrical engineering, specializing in microwaves. According to the custom at that time, he was “placed in industry” at Tesla Brno, where he participated in the introduction of the first mass-produced transmission electron microscope of type BS 242. Not only did he put the instrument into operation at universities and research institutes all over the country, but in 1957 he also appeared in the first live television broadcast on electron microscopy at the Third Engineering Exhibition in Brno. These were important moments that can be considered the beginnings of the popularization of electron microscopy in this country. We can recall them thanks to contemporary photographs, which we publish here with the permission of Mr. Kala.

CEITEC/Jiří Kala: III.Regional Congress - electron microscope new type BS 413

“At that time, public knowledge of electron microscopy was close to zero,” recalls Mr. Kala. “So we tried to explain what was going on – just like you do today during Electron Microscopy Days.”

Once properly trained in production, Mr. Kala was involved in marketing the microscope not only in Czechoslovakia but also in a number of other European research centres for ten years, including taking the microscope to international conferences. The new type of microscope from Tesla BS 413 was also presented at a conference in Prague in 1964 to Prof. Ernst Ruska, later Nobel Prize winner in electron microscopy.

In 1970, engineer Kala obtained a study stay with Prof. Vladimír Drahoš at the Institute of Physics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, to whom he feels grateful for his professional help. Mr. Kala also remembers Prof. Armin Delong, one of the founders of electron microscopy in our country, who would have celebrated his hundredth birthday this year, and with whom engineer Kala measured how much an atom can be enlarged – as evidenced by a photo from the time, which we publish with permission.

CEITEC/Jiří Kala: prof. Delong shows Kala how much an atom can be enlarged

The last stop for engineer Kala was the workplace of the Research Institute of Materials and Technologies (VÚMT) of the Research Institute of Metallic Materials, where a new microscope of the Japanese company JEOL JEM 200A was installed, at that time the only microscope in Czechoslovakia with an accelerating voltage of 200 kV, which allowed the study of thin metal foils. Mr. Kala worked there until 1996, when he retired.

Since the BS 242 microscope, scientific research has advanced considerably. The state-of-the-art CEITEC Nano laboratories, which operate in open-access mode and are accessible (after sufficient training) not only to CEITEC BUT staff but also to other users, whether part of academia or private, offer all the necessary equipment under one roof. Mr. Kala was impressed by the modern imaging equipment, as well as the friendliness and professionalism of the scientific team. His words showed deep emotion, “The instrumentation as well as the people here are great. People bring progress, and here, you can see it every step of the way.”

Communicating science across generations

The story of Jiří Kala illustrates the meaning of events that communicate science, such as the Electron Microscopy Days. The meeting of generations, the sharing of experiences, the admiration for progress and the simple human joy of knowledge create a unique space where science becomes part of all our lives.

At CEITEC BUT, we are proud to be part of the electron microscopy community in Brno and to be offering programmes that inspire not only young people interested in science, but also those who were at its beginnings.

CEITEC/Jakub Rozboud: Petr Viewegh at Electron microscopy Days 2025