It has been my pleasure privilege to build and run our community in the past year! 
Moving forward, I am happy to announce that Jaroslav Kovar (@kovarj) will be taking over as the community manager! Therefore, he is the perfect person for our next User Spotlight:
What is your role?
My role at B&R has evolved over nearly 20 years. I began as an Application Engineer, initially in the Czech Republic and later as an International Application Engineer, traveling extensively, particularly to Germany and the Netherlands.
Afterward, I spent nine years away from B&R, working as a Software Engineer and leading a software team where my focus extended beyond B&R hardware.
Seven years ago, I returned to B&R and joined the HMI support team, which is part of the R&D department at the headquarters in Eggelsberg. Currently, my responsibilities are divided among supporting colleagues worldwide, providing training at the B&R Automation Academy, and more recently, sharing my expertise within the B&R community.
What is your area of expertise?
Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to explore nearly every area covered by B&R’s solutions, including motion control, automation control, visualization, and various communication protocols.
Currently, as a member of the HMI R&D team, I focus on industrial PCs and panels from a hardware perspective, and on mapp View and mapp Services from a software perspective. I am also well-versed in communication protocols like OPC UA.
I have substantial experience with the installation of B&R hypervisor and operating systems such as Windows and Debian.
My work requires continuous learning, especially with the new technologies B&R brings to the market. Every day, I find new things I want to learn or experiment with.
What is one technical fact that you’d like to share with the community, which might not be well known?
This isn’t a technical fact, but I’d like to share my belief with the community. If you think you’re dealing with a unique problem or solution that no one has encountered before, there is almost always someone in the community who has faced something similar and is open to help or share experiences.
On the flip side, every answer holds value for the person asking, and we can all learn something new from it. So, I encourage you to engage with the community, share your experiences, and take advantage of the collective knowledge available.
What excites/motivates you about the B&R Community?
The idea of creating a B&R community as a unified platform for collaboration and sharing knowledge had been needed at B&R for a long time. I’m grateful that Brittany embraced this vision and brought it to life. Her name will be forever connected with B&R Community.
B&R has always been known as one big family that stands together and supports each other, a spirit that extends to our relationship with B&R users/customers.
The B&R Community exemplifies this ethos beautifully. I’m delighted that the community is on, public, online, and that we all help each other, regardless of where we come from or what roles we hold.
What are your personal passions/hobbies?
I’m fortunate that my work has always been my passion. However, life isn’t just about work; my family—my wife and two sons—are my top priority.
When I need some time alone to clear my thoughts, I go for a run. I enjoy challenges and have successfully completed several half-marathons.
Lastly, my current most exciting adventure is exploring the official hiking trail along the borders of the Czech Republic, known as the “Stezka Českem/Czech Trail.”