The teams of the 11 laboratories of Sofia Tech Park presented their scientific work on innovative products, goods and services. The achieved results are in the framework of implementation of internal projects realized at the end of 2018. The research is financed by the Association for Research and Development, which manages the Laboratory complex, amounting to 270 000 BGN. Members of the Association are Sofia Tech Park, AD, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski “, Technical University – Sofia and Joint Genomic Center.

The event, which took place on 18 April 2019, was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Economy, the academic community, the business and the media.

The Executive Director of the Association, Prof. Marin Hristov, explained that besides internal projects, Sofia Tech Park’s laboratories are also working on many research contracts for business. “The interest of the entrepreneurs working together to our scientific units is significant and we hope to have the opportunity for many more collaborative developments,” commented Prof. Hristov. He emphasized that the activities of the laboratories are aimed not only at achieving significant scientific contribution, but also on the practical direction of the results in order to make them successful products on the market. “That is why we will continue our hard work and we hope to provide further funding from different programs to further develop these projects and to start new research,” said Prof. Hristov.

“This is just the beginning of the program for developing innovative projects in our research units. Our intentions are to expand the activity of the laboratories and to attract more and more representatives of the business for joint projects in the Laboratory Complex, as well as additional financing, “said Sofia Tech Park Executive Director Todor Mladenov. He stressed that the practical direction of the work of the research units of the science and technology park is leading the way.

Developments of innovative food supplements presented the teams of the Biopharma laboratories at Sofia Tech Park. The product “Freshness” is the only one of its kind on the market because its contents in the form of tablets and sachets is a unique combination of balm and St. John’s Wort. Expert from the laboratory Stefania Gaidarova assured that the additive has many useful properties, improving the concentration and the working capacity. Researchers have also developed innovative probiotic tablets based on yoghurt-treated bacteria. Projects are in an advanced phase and are looking for business investment to enable products to reach a wide range of consumers. Another development of the three laboratories is related to the extraction of dry matter from balm, which can be used in the food industry as a natural and harmless preservative. Scientists are looking for partners to start producing the product, with a growing interest on the part of the business.

“All these studies are the result of the opportunities provided by the high-tech and unique equipment in the Sofia Tech Park laboratories,” said Mariana Kamenova, an expert in the team of “Laboratory for extraction of natural products and synthesis of bioactive compounds”. Prof. Ivan Atanasov, head of the “In vitro” Laboratory for Biological Activity and Toxicity Assessment, commented that the work of his project team is at an advanced stage in exploring the possibility of producing a new type of medicinal product based on plant extracts , whose properties are similar to known antibiotic preparations.

Dr. Boris Kirov from Bioinfotech Laboratory presented a new method of conducting research by isolating DNA from all sorts of organisms that can be successfully applied in medicine during food testing. The method also enables the creation of personal probiotics as it allows for individual microbiological examinations of each individual and an individual metabolic map based on which to prepare probiotics specifically designed to improve the health of the individual. In this way, the general condition of the body, metabolism, immune system and even mental health could be improved. “We believe the market potential of these studies is great. Our studies show that the world’s annual turnover of probiotics amounts to $ 50 billion, “said Dr. Kirov.

The “3D Creativity and Rapid Prototyping of New Products” Laboratory has presented a project for the production of metal using an innovative turbine blade method, which is part of TPP equipment. “The unique technology that is currently being used in just a few more places in the world is that both the addition and removal of metal is used to produce the products, which makes it possible to achieve a high degree of accuracy of the prototype,” said the expert, Dr. Yavor Sofroniev.

A virtual and expanded reality lab demonstrates a space configuration design that can be used in interior and industrial design, as well as a new virtual museum application that has been used to develop a virtual museum exposition of Ethnographic Ethnographic Museum. “The team of the scientific unit also participates in a project for added and expanded reality, which is designed for creation of modern art,” said the expert Dr. Dimo ​​Chetrov.

The Micro Laboratory has presented its project on innovative methods for detecting PCB defects that can be applied in different industries and industries. “We have already used these developments to identify defects in the automotive industry,” said Associate Professor Georgi Angelov, head of the research unit.

The Artificial Intelligence and CAD Systems Lab is presenting its development for wireless brainwave robot management, as well as a brainwave application. “This is the first stage of the project and we hope to further expand our research and achieve faster process speeds,” said Prof. Georgi Tsenov.

The Intelligent Communication Infrastructure Laboratory has analyzed and analyzed the spectrum disruption and employment by offering intelligent management to overcome interference. “The laboratory has begun a procedure for its certification as a regional unit for testing railway safety systems,” explained Dr. Victor Stoynev, expert.

Prof. Anna Proikova, Head of the High Performance Laboratory, presented the project that her team worked on. It is aimed at using the Sofia Tech Park computing cluster for modeling of complex systems. The example that is used is the modeling of graphene structures in which there is a defect in the crystal lattice. The aim is to examine the properties of such configurations by computer simulation, which requires large computational resources that provide the cluster. Currently, the research unit works with ATC, providing air traffic forecasts for the weather.

The Cyber ​​Map of Bulgaria was prepared within the framework of the Cybersecurity Laboratory project. More than 55,000 domains and sites of different organizations are included in the map. The study is part of a large-scale plan to set up an early warning and prevention platform for cyber attacks. An analysis has been made as to whether sites maintain an up-to-date version of their software and whether they offer a secure connection to their users. “According to the data, nearly 8,000 domains are not active and are the so-called cyber trash that needs to be cleared from the internet,” said the head of the laboratory, Dr. Georgi Sharkov. According to the survey, about 50% of state and municipal administration sites do not use secure connections and work with old versions of the software. 20% of the sites of private organizations have the same problem. The platform will make it possible to do such analyzes not only on Bulgarian sites but also on a regional basis as well as on personal reports.

“Most of the works have been recognized as scientific contributions and have been published in prestigious publications. We also look for support from the business in order for the research to reach the market, “commented Prof. Hristov.