Vidaković, prof. dr Milovan

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Leader in Technical Management of Environmental Risks

Professor Milovan Vidаkоvić, PhD, was born in 1940 in Belgrade, where he completed the gymnasium, and in 1967, he graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering – Department of Thermal Engineering. Area of his scientific and professional work was protection against fire, to which he devoted decades of research work, and the crown of that dedicated work and immense knowledge and experience are three major works in this scientific field – Thermodynamics of Uncontrolled Combustion (150 pages), Fire and Architectural Engineering (1000 pages) and Fire and Insurance in the Industry (1,800 pages).

Professor Vidаkоvić, PhD, was a member of the Serbian Scientific Society, the founder and the first president of the National Organization of Engineers and Technicians for Directing Fire Risks (DITUR) since 2001, as well as an active member of the Confederation of Fire Protection Associations-International (CFPА-I) and the European Confederation of National Fire Protection Organizations (CFPA-E). He began his international career in 1970 in Italy as a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and the author of the project for the innovative infrared drying apparatus in the photography industry.

He worked as a Managing Technical Director in the company San Marco, and afterwards he became a Project Manager for superfast machines in the company Agfa Gevaert in Germany. Already in 1972, he verified several patents internationally under the title "Automation of superfast apparatuses in the photography industry". Creative innovations and impressive patents gave birth to new ideas and stimulated his interest in research and science. In Germany, from 1972 to 1975, he worked intensively on the theoretical part of his doctorate on the topic "Fire protection of high-rise and air-conditioned buildings". He defined the basics of physics and the thermodynamic model of uncontrolled combustion and, on the threshold of an era of information technology and computers, he developed a software support – a software of thermodynamics of uncontrolled combustion, which provided the possibility to predict the development of fires in a high-rise building.

He returned to Serbia in 1976 upon invitation of the company Janko Lisjak from Belgrade, and two years later, he moved to the Institute for testing of materials (IMS Institute). During his employment with the Institute, he spent one year in Cuba as a head of technical support for three plants of prefabricated construction elements of Žеžеlј system. With the help of the Government of Serbia, in 1982, he received a scholarship from the Belgian government to complete his doctoral dissertation at the University of Brussels, and defended it and obtained his PhD in 1985 at the Faculty of Occupational Safety in Niš on the topic - Fire protection of high-rise and air-conditioned buildings.

In 1984, he was appointed the director of the company ”Preving” Zajednice оsigurаnjа imovine i lica „Dunаv“, and in 1986 he was appointed the director of Technical Risk Management in Dunav Insurance. At the same time, the Yugoslavian Insurers Association elected him as a representative in the European Insurance and Reinsurance Federation (CEA), and this function ceased when the economic blockade and sanctions were imposed on Serbia. In 1991, he transferred from the insurance industry to the University of Novi Sad, where he was elected the Assistant Professor for the course Fire fighting Tactics. At the same time, he worked as the chairperson of the Coordinating Commission of the Federal Institute for Standardization in the area of the law on fire protection.

In 1994, he held lectures at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, but since the importance of educating architects in the field of fire protection was not recognized, the course was cancelled and his further engagement was terminated. However, in 1997 he participated in creation of the Fire Protection course at the Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade.

Since 2000, he was a professor of courses Fire Tactics and Fire Protection Risk in Insurance at the College of Mechanical Engineering in Zemun, and since 2004 he organised lectures and practice at the same school for a licence of trained staff of fire brigades at Serbian airports. His engagement in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia began in 2009, where he held lectures on technical risk management. He held lectures at the Serbian Chamber of Engineers, but also responded to calls from around the world. His lectures attracted the attention of the professional public in Germany, the USA, Switzerland, France, Egypt and Belgium. Upon the invitation of the abbot of the Hilandar Monastery, in 2010, he went to the Serbian holy place that was destroyed by fire and, as an expert consultant, advised on reconstruction of the burned parts of the monastery. He made a presentation and a film based on his observations about that fire, which he presented at lectures at the German University Magdeburg in 2012, and then at lectures in Serbia.

Since 2007, as the president of DITUR, he organized the General Assembly of the Confederation of Fire Protection Associations Europe (CFPA-Europe) in the Convention Centre ”Sava” in Belgrade, which was attended by a large number of guests and experts from Europe and the world. Since then, DITUR has been holding a two-day international conference at ”Sava Centre” every odd year, while every even year DITUR has been participating at the Fire Protection Fair in Belgrade. In addition, professor organized each year professional trips and visits to fairs and laboratories dealing with fire protection testing in China, Germany, Russia, France and England. He is the author of several fire protection projects of special interest, including buildings of the Belgrade Drama Theatre and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade. He also wrote a review of the fire protection project of the National Museum in Belgrade, and he is the author of the McDonald's fire protection project in Moscow. His researches aimed to promote theoretical foundations of uncontrolled combustion for further development of models for prediction, control and stopping fires in high-rise and air-conditioned buildings are becoming more important in times of increasing incidents and terrorism worldwide.

Professor Vidаkоvić was a polyglot – he spoke English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. He was an active athlete and a member of the first team of the Red Star Basketball Club. With the knowledge and experience, he was, in a true sense, an insurance ambassador in technical and technological circles. In our journal, he was always present either as an author, scientific and expert consultant on technical risk management or as a sincere friend and a promoter of the importance of this scientific publication for promotion of insurance theory and practice. He passed away on 29 February 2020, leaving a permanent mark in theory and practice of environmental risk management.

UDK:368.10+614.841.3:726.717.74
ARTICLES, DISCUSSIONS, ANALYSES, REVIEWS

FIRE AT HILANDAR MONASTERY

The Article describes the formation and development of the Hilandar Monastery in view of the arrival of Serbs on the Balkans, including the historical role of the Nemanjić dynasty. Special attention is dedicated to 2004 fire at the Hilandar Monastery; moreover, the author gives instructions for the protection against similar situations in future.
The Hilandar Monastery is still exposed to the same peril. Therefore, it is necessary to create conditions for the supply of sufficient water amount. The water tank must have a required water quantity and pressure capacity. Also, it is necessary to install fire sections, in order to restrict the fire to a smaller area. Each restructured building should, by its height, represent a separate fire section. The crossings between the fire sections have to be secured by fire doors. Finally, the monks in the monasteries need to be prepared and/or trained to act in case of a re-occurrence of fire. It is also important to provide for firefighting suits and breathing apparatus.

Key words: Hilandar, fire, prevention

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