At the NATO Science Programme's "Grand Gathering" NATO HQ, 24 October 2002

Response by Artem Khalatov (Ukraine) on behalf of the three winners following presentation of the Prize by Lord Robertson Dear Lord Robertson, Dear Members of Advisory Panel, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great honor and privilege today to be awarded the first NATO Partnership Prize. This very prestigious international scientific award demonstrates the high level of the Ukrainian, Russian, and British science we represent here, therefore we are very proud to be awarded this Prize. My personal biography is closely linked with the former USSR, where I grew-up and was educated. For many years of the'Cold War', together with the other Prizewinner, Professor Alex Kozlov, I was actively involved in many aerospace military programs aimed at development of new systems of a mass destruction. During these years the 'iron curtain' system totally restricted contact with our colleagues from the West. The Soviet reality was very severe to those who tried to initiate contact with western scholars without official approval. It was not until the end of the 'Cold War' that the opening up of the countries of the east and the former Soviet Union for contacts and collaboration became possible. As a result, right now we are working together towards development of novel cooling techniques with significant potential benefit for gas turbine engines and other applications. It is expected these enhanced cooling techniques will be applied to the next generation of jet engines, to allow more efficient operating temperatures, which translates directly into fuel saving, longer ranges, high performance, and lower costs. I am sure this Award will help us to cooperate better in our future scientific work. I personally very much enjoyed this collaboration. It is so extremely important that the NATO and Partner countries are now working for peace and world stability. Such scientific collaboration is much better than any competition in military areas and can bring substantial benefits to all parties involved. I would like to thank my colleagues Professor Nick Syred from the United Kingdom and Professor Alex Kozlov from Russia for a fruitful and open cooperation and free exchange of scientific ideas. I also would like to thank the NATO Scientific Committee for this opportunity, and Dr Fausto Pedrazzini, Programme Director for every support and encouragement of our joint activity. The success of this meeting reflected the energetic support of many people. I would like to express our gratitude Mr Jean Fournet, Assistant Secretary General for Scientific and Environmental Affairs, and Mrs Alison Trapp for the excellent job made towards our trip to Brussels. I am sure all of you in this hall also join with us in expressing our thanks and appreciations to the NATO Science Committee and its qualified staff.