Gold Medal at SVIIF 2026 in California, USA
The Institute for Materials Testing has achieved another significant international success by winning a Gold Medal at one of the world’s leading events dedicated to invention, technological innovation, and the development of new technologies — the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival (SVIIF) 2026, held in Silicon Valley, California, USA. The award was presented for the innovation entitled “Innovative Prestressing-Based Pile Load Test.”
This prestigious recognition was awarded to the authors of the innovation, Dr. Mladen Ćosić, Dr. Nenad Šušić, and Marko Prica, from the Institute for Materials Testing (IMS), Belgrade, Serbia.
SVIIF 2026 was held from 14 to 16 August 2026 at the Mission City Ballroom, located within the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California, USA.
The festival was organized by the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA), with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the United Inventors Association. In its official materials, SVIIF is presented as “America’s Largest Innovation Exposition.”
According to the organizers, this year’s festival brought together more than 500 inventors from over 30 countries, providing an international platform for the presentation of innovative technologies, networking among inventors, research institutions, companies, and investors, as well as the professional evaluation of newly developed solutions.
The medal recipients were selected by an international expert jury, which evaluated the submitted innovations according to criteria including originality, technical quality, practical applicability, commercial potential, and broader societal impact.
The awarded innovation belongs to the field of geotechnical engineering and deep foundations and is based on an innovative approach to pile load testing using the concept of prestressing.
The Gold Medal represents a significant international recognition of the authors’ innovative work and provides further confirmation of the quality, innovative character, and potential of the solution developed at the Institute for Materials Testing (IMS) in Belgrade.
This prestigious award also underscores the Institute’s commitment to innovation and technological development, as well as the importance of continued investment in the development of new and advanced engineering solutions.
