As a child, like so many others, he too wanted to be a doctor. Then, a politician, and next, a film director. Briefly though, but his last dream did come true when as a student of civil engineering at Tbilisi State Polytechnical Institute he made several student feature films at the Institute’s film studio.

He has not completely left his childhood dreams behind, and to this day he reads abundant medical literature and is exceptionally knowledgeable in medical matters for a layman. As for his political accomplishments, if not for his political and diplomatic skills, Georgia would not have today the Institute of Space Constructions, one of the world’s most advanced institutions of its kind.

We are talking about the General Director of the Institute, Elgudja Medzmariashvili. He finished Batumi School No1 with a gold medal, and as he himself describes it, this school was his first “academy” followed by others, and then the profession of which he perhaps dreamt the most.
It is hard to say what kind of a doctor, film director or politician he would have made, but today, Dr. Medzmariashvili is renowned as one of the best representatives of his profession. He is the General Director and Chief Designer of the Georgian Institute of Space Constructions. He is Vice President of the Georgian Polytechnical Intellect and Chief Designer of the EGS Company. He is Head of the State Engineering Centre of the Georgian Armed Forces, a Department Head at the Technical University,  Doctor of Technical Sciences, and a Professor. He has produced more than 100 inventions, and is the author of around 150 scientific works.

With the participation of the Georgian Institute of Space Constructions and Tbilisi State Aviation Enterprise, two successful experiments were carried out on the Space Stations MIR and Progress 40. Both were constructing large-size structures on the orbit. Dr. Medzmariashvili is the author of two monographs, one of which was published in Germany.

But before all these achievements, there were many difficult years. The Soviet times of abundant funds for research and development of new inventions were followed by times of risk, and sometimes even hopelessness. But let us start from the beginning.

The Soviet Union of the 70s and 80s. In order to fulfil its ambitions and consolidate its strategic position in the world, this huge nation was compelled to invest in wide scale scientific and technological research and development. This, it did.  It was during this time, in 1980, that Eduard Shevardnadze, then First Secretary of the Communist Party of Georgia, decided that large-size space constructions should be developed in Georgia, a decision which in those days was universally regarded as fantastic and enormously risky.

Ten years later, the Soviet Union dissolved. Civil war broke out in Georgia. The Institute that used to carry special government contracts was suddenly rendered useless, or to be more accurate, an independent Georgia had no hope to sustain this type of an establishment. Many other unique institutions in Russia and elsewhere in the former Soviet space  found themselves in a similar dire situation.

How were things in the Georgian Space Institute? Dr. Medzmariashvili explains, “During the times of conflict, it became impossible to continue our practical work. Our immediate goal was to find a way to simply preserve the unique material and technical base of the Institute itself, to keep our pool of human resources intact and informed, and to perpetuate our scientific work. It was in those very difficult years that we began to think about the new prospects and tasks ahead, and to search for new contracts and partners. Some time later, President Shevardnadze issued several decrees to facilitate the international relations of the institute and ties to foreign markets. These decrees formed the basis for forming GPI,  a joint venture with the Technical University and European companies VALEMAR and GREAM. Later, a decision was taken to establish the State Engineering Centre for the Armed Forces. A joint Georgian-Russian Energia-GPI- Space was formed with the Korolyov Space Firm Energia. Today, it is not difficult to imagine where the Institute would be if it had waited around for money from the state budget.”

Work within the Institute took two directions -  solving scientific, technical problems according to world standards, led by Dr. Medzmariashvili himself, and secondly, international relations, finances, negotiations, business plans, legal instruments, led by GPI President Gregory Kinteraia.
Most recently, Georgia, together with Germany’s Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace Dornier Satellite Systems created a 15 meter reflector for space communications systems, unlike any other in the world.

Today International Company GPI, Russian-Georgian Company EGS, the Georgian Institute of Space Constructions, and the Russian Rocket Space Corporation Energia are working to launch into orbit an offset reflector antenna, which represents a new generation of space communication systems. The antenna will ensure the high quality, efficiency, mobility, and environmental friendliness of space communications.
Over the past three years, the Institute has worked on designing a bridge that will be easy to build and transport under extreme conditions. Today, two designs have been developed and tested - the KM-01-T and KM-02-T, for which contracts have already been signed with GREAM and VALEMAR.

According to Dr. Medzmariashvili, “projects of global importance are being developed in Georgia. Each has a specific niche, is competitive and has the potential to be highly profitable. The force behind these activities is a team of world class scientists and designers.  Our Georgian partners Tbilisi Aviation Enterprise and Georgian Technical University have all made significant contributions as well. Our main activities are carried out at the Saguramo Campus of the Institute. Individual facilities within the Saguramo are state of the art, and can compare with analogous facilities anywhere else in the world.”

It is impossible for Dr. Medzmariashvili to be in Saguramo every minute of every day. This, together with the need to keep in constant contact with foreign partners, prompts him to comment, “When Magti GSM became a leader in Georgia in quality and reliability of service, the GPI President Gregory Kinteria and myself chose Magti, because it was in our opinion the best.  I am sure our relationship with Magticom will grow. Who knows, maybe in the future, Magti GSM will use the antennas designed by us. ”

When I went to interview Dr. Medzmariashvili, I expected to see laboratories like something out a science fiction movie, but I was surprised to find it was nothing like this. There were ordinary white walls, meticulous cleanliness and discrete furnishings like in any modern office. When I mentioned my surprise to Dr. Medzmariashvili, he told me that I should go see the Saguramo Complex.

Toward the end of our conversation, he said that in the future, should he decide to retire, he may go back to his earlier dream and make films - but not science fiction. He has already written the scripts for seven scientific documentaries. It is difficult to say what kind of film director he would be, but we will probably never know. It is hard to imagine him leaving his work. We can, however, check right away how good a wine-maker he is. When he has free time, he makes wine on his private plot of land using seven different technologies - Georgian, French, Byzantine and others.

Dr. Medzmariashvili likes to say that space teaches us three things - less fiction, more realism, and faith.

ELISO KAPANADZE