Ivo Boscarol, the co-owner and boss of the ultralight plane maker Pipistrel, was named the person of the year by Slovenia's leading daily Delo.
Boscarol said upon receiving the award that he considered it a great commitment for future efforts, stressing that a long-term vision and values were the priorities for Pipistrel, as shown in its environmentally-friendly operations.Born in 1956, Boscarol founded what is today Pipistrel, the first privately-owned aviation company in the former Yugoslavia, in 1987 and went on to win a number of accolades in aviation competitions. His ultralight plane Virus SW won two NASA Centennial Challenges, the Personal Air Vehicle Challenge in 2007 and the General Aviation Technology Challenge in 2008. In 2011, Pipistrel won the CAFE/NASA/Google Green Flight Challenge for energy-efficient aircraft with its four-seater electric plane Taurus G4. Boscarol moreover received the FAI Paul Tissandier Diploma for his contribution to aviation in 2004, was named Slovenia's entrepreneur of the year 2003 and declared manager of the year in 2004. Romana Dobnikar Šeruga, the editor-in-chief of Delo, told today's ceremony that "more than ever, we need...examples that prove that honest work is a virtue which pays off". Working for the good of a community pays off sooner or later, she said. The readers of the picked Boscarol among ten candidates shortlisted by Delo: businessmen Marjan Batagelj and Anka Lipušček Miklavič, doctors Aleksander Doplihar and Leon Meglič, writer Zorko Simčič, the head of the anti-graft agency Goran Klemenčič, model Alen Kobilica, hockey player Anže Kopitar and astrophysicist Anže Slosar. Delo has been choosing the Person of the Year since 1990. A year ago, the award was conferred on Trieste-based minority writer Boris Pahor and in 2010 on surgeon Erik Brecelj.
Source: The SloveniaTimes
