This is the first time an IEEE Milestone recognition was awarded to a Brain-Computer Interface achievement.
After the application made by Stevo Bozinovski, supported by the IEEE Republic of Macedonia Section in 2018 and a presentation by IEEE North Macedonia LMAG Chair Goce Arsov at the LMAG Meeting in Prague in 2022, the IEEE History Committee recommended the IEEE Board of Directors to award a Milestone status to the achievement “First Robotic Control from Human Brain Signals, 1988”
Stevo Bozinovski and Mihail Sestakov from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering ETF Skopje (now FEEIT), together with Liljana Bozinovska, MD from the Faculty of Medicine at the Ss Cyril & Methodius University in Skopje, controlled a robot using human brain signals for the first time in the history in 1988. The event occurred at the Laboratory of Intelligent Machines and Bio-information Systems at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering – ETF Skopje.
The IEEE Milestone ceremony was held in Skopje, North Macedonia, at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (FEEIT) premises on 10 October 2023. The ceremony was organized by the IEEE North Macedonia Section and all of its entities (Chapters, Student Branch, and Affinity Groups, including the LMAG).
From left to right: Prof. Vladimir Atanasovski, Prof. Goga Cvetkovski, Prof. Biljana Angelova, Prof. Saifur Rahman, Prof. Stevo Pendarovski, Prof Marko Delimar, Prof. Martin Bastiaans, Stefan Momyr (Student Branch Chair), Prof. Stevo Bozinovski
“Engineers are the driving force in every country, contributing to the welfare and progress of societies. Let this genuinely exceptional event of great importance for Macedonian engineering in particular, but also for Macedonian science and society as a whole, be an inspiration for all students, professors, and future engineers to create and contribute to building a modern and technologically advanced world, made for man but established on the highest ethical norms and standards.”, said Stevo Pendarovski, President of the Republic of North Macedonia, in his speech.
The official unveiling of the IEEE Milestone Plaque
IEEE President & CEO, Saifur Rahman, emphasized the importance of this achievement and conveyed its magnitude—placing authors S. Bozinovski, M. Sestakov, and L. Bozinovska in the company of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla. He pointed out that this moment should remain permanently engraved in the collective national memory and be promoted among the young population, specifically the female population, as an inspiration for the next generation of engineers.
“This is where you have to bring the children, the students, to see this plaque and realize that right here, at this place, a robot was controlled by human brain signals for the first time in the world,” said Rahman, further emphasizing the importance of choosing the STEM career path, because engineers innovate, create, communicate, and collaborate.
After the ceremonial speeches, the IEEE Milestone Plaque was unveiled by Stevo Pendarovski and Saifur Rahman.
Content provided by IEEE North Macedonia LMAG Chair Goce Arsov
