Vilko Žiljak, Dr. Sc.

Emeritus, permanently elected professor
UNIVERSITY OF ZAGREB, FACULTY OF GRAPHICS ART, Croatia
Regular member of the Croatian Academy of Engineering

Vilko Ziljak is emeritus, professor with permanent title in the field of graphic technology. In 2008 he was awarded the life achievement award: State Prize for Science 2010, Ministry of Science and Education; Zlatna kuna (Gold  Marten). The award was handed over President of Croatian Parliament. The award is given by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce «for an exceptional contribution to the graphics industry development». Vilko Ziljak is Regular Member of the Croatian Technical Sciences Academy.

He was born in Sveti Ivan Zelina in 1946. He studied the Faculty of Science and Mathematics where in 1973 he got his degree as experimental physics graduated engineer. He got his doctor's degree in 1981 with the College of Electrical Engineering and acquired the title «doctor of technical sciences in the field of computer sciences». During the past forty years he has been invited by many contemporary art galleries worldwide to exhibit his computer graphics.

Vilko Ziljak is Head of the Department for typography and computer graphic with the Faculty of Graphics Arts in Zagreb. With six postgraduate and many pre-graduate studies he has introduced subjects linked with graphics technology, informatics, visual research with the help of computers and mathematical modeling and simulation. Twenty two scientists have received their master's or doctor's degrees with various colleges under his tutorship. In his biography (www.ziljak.hr) there is a list of more than 400 titles: books, scientific and expert works, cooperation in the field of economics, educational films, projects with the Croatian Ministry of Science.

Vilko Ziljak has a very fruitful cooperation in the field of business and with state institutions on which he has based his research and development achievements. He introduced new digitalization methods into the graphic industry in all segments: prepress, press and postpress. Software was introduced in printing plants for production managing and planning that he had developed with his closest collaborators. Significant projects are the following ones: digitalization of the state topographic maps, documents and securities graphics, design of Croatia's original money – the Kuna.

Vilko Žiljak has been permanently employed since 1970. He has been employed with the Faculty of Graphics since 1982, where he is a full professor and Head of the Department for the printing technology and computer sciences. He is also professor for many post-graduate studies and undergraduate studies: Design Studies with the Faculty of Architecture and Informatics Sciences with the Zagreb University .

In the course of his work he was engaged in research work, development and application of computer and graphic techniques in a wide field of science. In Croatia he is a pioneer in three scientific branches that basically rely on computer sciences: firstly in mathematical modeling and simulation, secondly in computer graphics and typography and thirdly in visual research with the help of a computer. He was the one to have written the first books in Croatian dealing with matter from this area and published here. He also organized teaching classes with the undergraduate and postgraduate studies. His own works have been published as well as the works with collaborators in the following fields of science: technical (computer, graphics and geology), medicine, social (education, sociology, computer science and economy), humanistic (science in arts) and natural science.

He has organized new subjects in undergraduate (14) and postgraduate (9) studies, and is also the co-founder of three new courses. He is the first leader of Graphic Engineering postgraduate studies with the Faculty of Graphics.. Various authors have written essays, criticisms, reviews, interviews on his work and activities, and there is a monograph on his early computer visual research work.