President Radev Confers 2024 John Atanasoff Awards for Excellence in Technology and Innovation

Kaloyan Kirilov

Participants in the 2024 John Atanasoff Awards ceremony in the Coat of Arms Hall of the Presidency, with President Rumen Radev pictured in the centre. Sofia, October 4, 2024 (BTA Photo/Vladimir Shokov)

Sofia,

04.10.2024 19:46

(BTA)

President Rumen Radev presented his institution's John Atanasoff Awards at a ceremony in Sofia marking the 121st anniversary of the birth of John Atanasoff, the renowned inventor of Bulgarian descent, the president’s press secretariat said on Friday.

"I'm glad that this year, once again, Bulgaria is recognized globally for its intelligent, ambitious, and innovative young people, who demonstrate creative thinking and impressive skills in informatics, robotics, and artificial intelligence," Radev said. He noted that Bulgarian students and young scientists continue to win medals and awards at the most prestigious international competitions.

Radev noted that the success of young Bulgarian talents in computer science stems from many years of hard work by scientists, teachers, and experts who have built the Bulgarian school in this promising area. He congratulated the entire Bulgarian information science community on their professional holiday.

The 2024 John Atanasoff Awards recognize several outstanding individuals and teams for their contributions to technology and education.

Yonko Chuklev received the Project with High Public Contribution award for co-founding a Robotics Incubator.

Delyan Hristov and Stoyan Ganchev from Plovdiv's Mathematics School earned the Debut Breakthrough in Computer Technologies award, while students Boris Mihov and Daniel Koynov, along with their teachers, were honoured for international success in Olympiads.

Dragomir Popov and Kalin Simeonov from Pernik's Vocational School of Economics received recognition for their team project at the National Olympiad in Information Technology. Certificates were awarded to gold medallists Andrey Stefanov, Vesselin Markovich, and Simona Hristova for their achievements at the European Olympiad in Informatics.

In the Inspirer and Creator of Talent category, Teodor Nikolov and Yuliya Dimitrova were honoured for their work in nurturing young talent, with Dimitrova recognized for over two decades of excellence in training programming competitors.

/DD, VE/