The WildCat from Bulgaria

It is a thread about the current high-tech developments happening in Bulgaria and not a thread specifically about architecture. This was formerly a country expert in high technology, mainly in regard to microelectronics and computers. That means Bulgaria was once recognized as the 'Silicon Valley' of the East. Many Bulgarian scientists left the country while others could not be absorbed by newly forming private enterprises after the 1980s 'fall' of Communism. Therefore, they became taxi drivers. It is a fact and not a joke! So probably, it is true.

Bulgaria is at this time focused on creating an economic niche on the world stage by leveraging its high quality education system as some of you may have heard. In actual fact, you can just look up the International Math Olympics or other rankings to see that this small country creates an incredible number of talented people year after year. In fact, it is ranked as one of the top countries in the world in terms of mathematics and the physical sciences. So supposed, the issue is actually structuring the economy in such a way as to be able to efficiently absorb them through the effective utilization of the populace's skills, knowledge and core competencies and not the human resources.

Presently, there are two primary reasons why there is high-tech resurgence in the country:

1) The government has formed a new investment stimulation system whereby it lowers corporate taxes for corporations occupied in high technology. The government also helps these companies construct the necessary infrastructure requested by the corporations if they have projects that are above 20 million Euros in size.

2) Many Bulgarian scientists and engineers are now finding R&D jobs within the Bulgarian economy due to the steady growth of the economy, and positive developments in the business environment, such as the 10% corp. tax rate and technical red-tape reform. There is a new tendency of Bulgarians returning home to create new corporations that will influence the country's strategic position, EU membership and talent pool.

Certainly Bulgaria must become oriented around innovation for it to create a globally competitive economy. The science and technology community in the country is finding its savior in the form of endless possibilities offered by entrepreneurship after the disintegration of the last two decades. This is indeed for all of Eastern Europe as we have all suffered much sorrow and not for Bulgaria. However, we developed impenetrable hope in sorrow, and with hope we all hold the key to progress, peace and prosperity.

The Bulgarian based design group 12B Concept has now its third major project that is the Wild cat design concept. The Wildcat is created by a core team of three members and is purely a design study but could form the basis of a production version if the company receives financial backing. The Wildcat is designed to feature a turbocharged V8 engine developing 460hp positioned as a mid-ranged sports car. The Total weight of the car is expected to be less than 1200kg with around €150,000 as final pricing.

By the end of March next year, a scale model is scheduled to be completed ahead of planned wind tunnel testing. The developers are hoping that a working prototype can be ready for a string of motor shows where the car will be displayed all the way through until the end of 2008. It is actually the car is the vision of Ivan Ivanov, Branimir Dobrev, and Ivan "Sqwall" Stoyneshky The Wildcat is expected to feature a 460 horsepower V8. Currently, the Bulgarian I2B team is looking for investors or potential buyers.