Prof. Garo Mardirosian from the Space Research and Technologies Institute (SRTI) of BAS was awarded the “Inventor of the Year – 2023” prize of the Union of Inventors in Bulgaria. He received the prestigious award for 4 inventions in the field of protection from disasters and accidents, two of which were for critical infrastructure: the “Kinematic System for Early Warning of Earthquakes for Critical Infrastructure Facilities” and the ” Early Warning about Floods along River Beds near Artificial Lakes Barrages “.
The application of the first invention is in anti-seismic protection of critical infrastructure facilities – for example nuclear power plants, dam walls, etc., from the effects of destructive seismic waves. It is based on the difference in velocities between the longitudinal and transverse seismic wave. The first, the longitudinal wave, which travels at a higher speed but has a less destructive effect triggers the system enabling it to react until the arrival of the second, the transverse wave, which travels at a lower speed but has a destructive effect.
The second invention relates to an early warning system along the river bed below an artificial lake barrage, by means of which a warning signal is given to the population, the relevant services and organizations falling within the flood zone in the event of a high water surge due to an emergency opening or breaching of the spillway or main outlets, artificial lake damages caused by terrorist or military actions and other causes. Its application is in the protection of the population and infrastructures along the river bed below the artificial lake barrage from the destructive action of the water wave in the described cases.
The main scientific interests of Prof. Mardirosian are in the study of natural and environmental disasters with ground-based (contact) and aerospace (remote) methods and instrumentation. He has been involved in the realization of almost all significant national and international space projects with Bulgarian participation.
In 1991 he was awarded a professorship and was accepted as a full member of PWPA – New York “for his scientific, applied, inventive and popularization activities and for his merits to the democratization process”. He is holder of the titles of Honorary Inventor and Enlightener 2016. He is listed in the Golden Book of Bulgarian Inventors and Discoverers, in the “2000 Most Eminent Scientists of the Twentieth Century” Encyclopedia – edition of IBC, Cambridge.
