He called it BE[A]ST, which means "a beast", or "the 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 hose nozzles for fire sport is the best, he found out that none is ideal. He was not satisfied with the result and, in addition to the final thesis, he designed his own hose nozzle, which combines the best of the existing solutions. He has licensed a utility model from the university, which protects the hose nozzle, and is preparing for the market with it.

Although Filip Páral studied automotive and traffic engineering, he was never interested in cars very much. On the other hand, in his native Bořitov in the Blansko region, he had been involved in fire sports since he was a child. "When I was choosing the topic of my bachelor's thesis in the second year, I did not get interested in any topic related to cars. So I thought that I would combine the pleasant and the useful and try to analyse which hose nozzle 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 hose nozzle users, has the task of knocking down a target. He, thus, has first-hand experience with hose nozzles. "During the analysis, I found out that none of the hose nozzles 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.

During the development, he had to combine two fundamental parameters: the 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 gushing water obscures the view of a hose nozzle user. The pressure drop can again be imagined as a recoil when firing from a gun. It is again the fault of the water: it reaches the hose nozzle, which at the end is narrowed 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 hose nozzle called BE[A]ST, where he tried to balance the mentioned parameters as much as possible. In addition, he supplemented his hose nozzle with non-slip surface treatment and balanced it so that athletes could run better with it.

Young entrepreneur

Why did he get down to the task beyond the bachelor's thesis at all? "I like challenges. It works best for me when someone tells me something is wrong. I just got my teeth into it and wanted to finish it. It was martyrdom and I tried everything possible: from the development, through design, finding suppliers, to marketing and web design," Páral says.

With a hose nozzle, which was protected by a utility model by BUT, the student decided to start a business. He, therefore, concluded a license agreement with the university. "The Technology Transfer Office focuses more on the protection and commercialization of the 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 hose nozzle and the settlement of all obligations so that Mr Páral could safely produce and sell the hose nozzle," Roman Molík, the Head of BUT's Technology Transfer Office explained.

As a starting 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 his hose nozzle will be among the most expensive on the market, it already has the first customers in pre-orders.

But it probably won't make a living. "This product alone 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 it in further development. And if nothing, it gave me at least a lot of experience," Páral concludes.