Personality on Stamp: Aurel Stodola– The Technical Scientist of Slovakia

Sunday 17 July 2011

Aurel Stodola– The Technical Scientist of Slovakia

Aurel Stodola was born on 10 May 1859 in the town of Liptovský Mikuláš. His technical talent was already evident at school-age, therefore after completing his education at secondary grammar schools in Levoča and Košice he went on to study at the Technical University in Budapest.

As an exceptionally successful student, Aurel Stodola earned a scholarship and the opportunity to study at the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich. He completed his studies in 1884, graduating from the Sorbonne in Paris.

After working for a short time in Slovakia, he worked at several engineering plants in Prague. In 1892, he was invited as an excellent expert by the Technical University in Zurich as a lecturer for the newly-established Machine Construction Department. He lectured at the university until 1929.

Stodola spent half a century on pioneering engineering work of global importance in Zurich. His greatest achievements concerned the field of steam and gas turbine construction. He set the conditions for their stable regulation, and developed new calculation methods for steam turbines. His constructions and calculations served as the basis for this engineering field and laid the foundations for its development for many years to come.

The principal work of Aurel Stodola Dampfturbinen und ihre Aussichten als Wärmekraftmaschinen (Steam Turbines and their Outlook as Machines Propelled by Thermal Energy) was published in 1903. It was translated into many languages and Stodola constantly extended and amended it with the latest knowledge.

Another of his works, Damp und Gas Turbinen (Steam and Gas Turbines) was published in Berlin in 1922. His achievements were recognised by many global scientific and technical societies, and universities in Petersburg, Vienna and Budapest sought to win him as their professor. He received the greatest honour in 1940 when England awarded him the James Watt Gold Medal.

Aurel Stodola also researched opportunities for technological applications in healthcare - he constructed an artificial arm and his ideas were applied in the manufacture of prosthetic devices.

Aurel Stodola died on 25 December 1942 in Zurich but since 1989 he has been buried in the town of his birth. His technological achievements are recognised by the Aurel Stodola Plaque, as awarded by the Slovak Academy of Science for achievements in technical science. (Resouce: The Slovakia Post )