News Story

Alum Honored for Entrepreneurial Spirit

The Clark School has honored Aris Mardirossian (B.S. '74 and M.S. '75, mechanical engineering) with its 2011 Distinguished Alumnus award for his entrepreneurial spirit. He received the award at the University of Maryland Alumni Awards Gala on April 9.

Mardirossian holds or has pending more than 50 patents for technologies ranging from satellite traffic control to a land mine disarming system. He has several other patents pending. In addition to his company, Technology Patents LLC, he owns a restaurant, a chain of convenience stores and several construction and real estate businesses.

"He's got a driving force behind him to realize what might be possible," said Clark School Associate Dean (and Mardirossian's former professor) Bill Fourney in a Maryland Daily Record article. "Many of us sit around and think about what would be good to do, but he's taken the chance of putting his ideas down on paper and submitting them and getting the patents."

Mardirossian supports the Clark School with gifts for scholarships including the Aris and Marianne Mardirossian Endowed Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering.

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April 13, 2011