JURY
VENTZI BOJKOV
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Ventzi Bojkov is Vice Rector for IT and Development at UACEG. A civil engineer specialising in irrigation and drainage, he holds an MSc in Hydroinformatics from IHE Delft and a PhD in engineering hydrology, hydraulics and water economy, with a thesis on applying data mining methods to river runoff assessment. Alongside engineering hydrology, his interests include the history of Bulgaria’s water works, the maintenance and management of small dams, and water regulations.
JURY
IVAN IVANOV
Eng. Ivan Ivanov is Chairman of the Bulgarian Water Association (BWA), with more than 25 years in the water sector. He leads and takes part in numerous international projects on environmental and water resource protection, including Tethys, Danube Water Balance, BOOST-IN, UDIH 4 EU, WATERVILL and InnoWATCCH. A chemical engineer with an MSc from the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy (UCTM) in Sofia, he combines his chairmanship with directing the BWA’s “Water Supply and Sewerage” Vocational Training Centre and editing BULAQUA Magazine, the Association’s specialised publication. He sits on EurEau’s working groups for drinking water, wastewater, and legal and economic affairs, and on the boards of trustees of UCTM–Sofia and the Water Sector Development Foundation.
JURY
ANA MANYAROVA
Ana Manyarova is a senior manager at Sofiyska Voda, part of the Veolia Group, where she currently leads Regulation and Concession Compliance. With over 15 years of experience in the water and environmental services sector, Ana has held a range of leadership roles spanning regulation, sustainability, innovation, and project management. Her work includes preparing business plans, monitoring performance indicators, managing EU-funded Horizon projects, and fostering innovation and partnerships. Previously, she served as Sustainability Manager, leading initiatives in circular economy solutions, water loss reduction, and environmental projects. Ana holds an MSc in Water and Environmental Management from the University of Brighton, UK, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management from Eckerd College in the United States. She is an IRCA-certified auditor, ESG-trained professional, and an active mentor and jury member in innovation and entrepreneurship programs, including Junior Achievement, WWF Panda Labs, etc.
MENTOR
MARIANA DAMOVA
Mariana Damova is a technology entrepreneur and AI/knowledge-engineering leader working across research, engineering, business development and public-sector applications. Her profile combines a deep academic foundation in computational linguistics with executive experience commercialising data- and AI-driven technologies, more recently in climate adaptation, flood forecasting, Earth observation and intelligent water-resource management. As a mentor, she helps teams refine their ideas, tackle complex challenges and turn technical concepts into real-world solutions.
MENTOR
STAVRI NIKOLOV
Dr. Stavri Nikolov is a technology entrepreneur, researcher and innovation leader specialising in Earth observation, geospatial technologies, IoT and multi-sensor data. He is Founding Director of Digital Spaces Living Lab (DSLL) and co-founder and CEO of LLcloud, a platform combining data from satellites, drones, IoT sensors and wearables. With extensive experience mentoring startups through the Galileo, Copernicus and CASSINI programmes, he brings together technical expertise, entrepreneurship and a practical approach to turning innovative ideas into real-world solutions.
MENTOR
STANKO STANKOV
Stanko Stankov is an AI Engineer at Mozaika, specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data-driven solutions. He has experience developing innovative applications across Earth Observation, water-resource monitoring, and natural language processing. As an active contributor to hackathons and collaborative technology projects, Stanko brings a hands-on and approachable mentoring style.
MENTOR
YAVOR YORDANOV
Yavor Yordanov is an environmental scientist and soil expert with more than 20 years of experience in soil survey, GIS, digital soil mapping and environmental monitoring. As Director of National Soil Survey, he leads projects on soil health, land suitability, sustainable land management and the use of geospatial and remote-sensing technologies. His work on large-scale environmental projects and his experience mentoring innovation teams bring a practical, field-based perspective that helps participants connect satellite data and GIS with real-world challenges in agriculture, water and environmental sustainability.
MENTOR
DIMITAR DIMITROV
Dimitar Dimitrov is Founder of Black Sea Catch and Chair of the “For Our Sea” Foundation, working at the intersection of law, sustainable business and marine conservation. His work promotes responsible use of marine resources and practical links between environmental protection and sustainable economic development. As a mentor, he brings a strong grasp of sustainability, impact-driven entrepreneurship and the challenges facing the Black Sea, helping teams develop ideas with meaningful environmental and societal impact.
MENTOR
GALINA KETEVA
Galina Keteva is a QA Engineer at Mozaika, with experience in software quality assurance, data validation, UX and user-focused technology solutions. Her work combines close attention to detail with a practical understanding of how users interact with products and how technical solutions are best presented to clients. As a mentor, she takes a hands-on, collaborative approach, helping hackathon teams improve their prototypes, think from the user’s perspective, spot potential issues and demonstrate their solutions confidently to clients and stakeholders.
MENTOR
BURCU TASPINAR
Burcu Taspinar is an engineer and data professional combining industrial experience with data analytics, automation and AI. Currently working at the intersection of product management and digitalization, using Python, SQL and Databricks to turn technical and business data into practical solutions. Internationally experienced across industry, research and interdisciplinary technology projects, with a strong interest in translating complex technical challenges into usable digital solutions.
MENTOR
TOMÁŠ ZVOLENSKÝ
Tomas Zvolensky is a Senior Business Development Manager at GOSPACE LABS, responsible for sales and marketing of MERATCH environmental sensors and the Floodar flood early-warning system. He holds a PhD in Radio Science and Engineering from Aalto University, where he researched metamaterials and leaky-wave antennas, followed by a postdoc at Duke University. Before GOSPACE he held marketing leadership roles at Optotune and Aranet IoT (SAF Tehnika).
