Hungarian Heritage Review, 1988 (17. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1988-06-01 / 6. szám
Special 3[eature-©f-ÍEl]e-Jílontb the first successful helicopter flight witnessed by many foreign experts. Asboth’s successes in helicopter research lent new impetus to relevant research throughout the world. Asboth’s accomplishment has been acknowledged by the scientific community the world over, including the prestigious Federation Aeronautique Internationale which awarded him the Paul Tissandier diploma in 1954. See Asboth’s works Az első helikopter (The first helicopter. Budapest: Népszava, 1965. 252 p., illus., ports.) and Geprepules (Budapest: Zrinyi Kiadó, 1957. 278 p.). András Mechwart (1834-1907), a mechanical engineer, in 1859 joined the small Budapest workshop of Abraham Ganz, a Swiss foundry master who emigrated into Hungary. Together they developed this small workshop into the world famous Ganz Works. Mechwart invented the flour rolling mill thereby introducing the revolutionary refined milling which earned Hungary’s milling industry international renown. Pal Csonka (son of Janos Csonka, the eminent inventor) was born on July 8, 1896, in Budapest. He prepared for his university examinations while on combat duty in World War I. At the same time he successfully developed new techniques for military sound measurement to locate enemy artillery. As a result of this work, at the age of 22 he was offered the position of professor at the Schallmesschule in Vienna. In 1920 he received his diploma in architectural engineering at the József Nádor Műegyetem (Budapest University of Technical Sciences). In the same year he submitted a plan in the largest postwar design competition to redevelop the Margitsziget (Margit Island) in Budapest, and to the great surprise of many, finished ahead of his professors receiving 2nd prize. After several successful design competitions he was invited to lecture on mathematics at the Budapest University of Technical Sciences. Later he taught the subject of statics. In 1936 he was appointed to the chair of statics at that university. His lectures were noted for their convincing simplicity. He knew well how to make an abstract subject interesting and attractive for his students. He became one of the most popular professors at the university, his expertise was widely acknowledged. During the period of persecutions, of the World War II era, Csonka saved the lives of several of his colleagues, and actively resisted the government’s efforts to relocate the university in Germany. In 1956 he was elected member of the Revolutionary Committee during the Hungarian Uprising. During those days he insisted that no perosn be removed from his job or otherwise disciplined without due process of law. After the suppression of the uprising disciplinary proceedings were started against him. He was dismissed from his position. Later he served as a consultant and led the research group on statics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His scientific work started long before he joined the university faculty. It is published in journals, conference reports, in the form of books and in publications of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 1975 the number of items of his publications passed 730, among them over 200 scientific papers in foreign languages, mostly in English and German, the rest in Hungarian. By 1975 Pal Csonka delivered over 180 scientific lectures (in addition to his university lectures) in many countries, although for decades he was not allowed to leave Hungary. His most important contributions are the following: He extended the theory of buckling of Shanley (1952). In a series of papers Csonka discussed the lateral buckling of beams (1955); this work attracted considerable international attention. He was the first to construct a theory for a chain of beams (1935). His theory started intensive research activity in this field. He introduced a new step (which he named “distortion”) in the relaxation calculation of multi-story frames (1948), thereby simplifying such calculations since his method converges faster than any other method. Pal Csonka introduced the concept of proportional frame (1955). Several of his articles are devoted to the problem of membrane shells. He designed new methods to solve such problems. One of these is the method of undetermined shape (1958). He developed new types of shell structures, named after him in the literature. His relevant publications include Membranschalen (Berlin: W. Ernst, 1966, VII, 92 p. illus.). In 1954 he received a Kossuth Prize. He is honorary member of international organizations, such as the International Association for Shell Structures (IASS). Csonka was honored with external membership in the Polish Society for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (1969), and by an honorary degree from the University of Dresdan, East Germany, in 1975. Charles F. Pul vari (b. 1907) graduated from the Budapest University of Technical Sciences in 1929. Up to 1949, when he emigrated to the United States, Pulvari held several leading positions in Hungary in the field of electrical engineering and was granted many patents for his unique achievements. From 1953 until his recent retirement, Pulvari was professor of electrical engineering at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and head of its Solid State Research Laboratory. He produced more than twenty patented inventions in the United States including the “Electric Automatic Circuit Breaker with Reclosing Means”; ‘■‘Method and Apparatus for Recording and Reproducing Intelligence”; “Electrical Condensers”. For decades Pulvari has been a principal investigator of many U.S. (Navy, Air Force, etc.) scientific and technological projects. He authored around 40 professional studies appearing in U.S. periodicals and presented a number of papers at U.S. and international conferences. He is still active in a consulting capacity. JUNE 1988 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 17
