Citations, Pictures, Details

One of the most valuable achievements of IFHTSE over the years has been the development of fruitful and mutually beneficial personal contact in groups of leading figures in industry and academic life, among widely differing political regimes, and through some difficult and often dangerous times.

Zoltán Kolozsváry has provided outstanding leadership in this respect for several decades, beginning in the 1970s. His multilingual abilities (he will happily communicate in his native Hungarian and Romanian as well as in English and German) have always ensured a good level of understanding in many meetings. For example, after the changes in the USSR/Russia he was central to the restoration of active Russian contributions to IFHTSE, and membership of the Russian Heat Treating Society to IFHTSE.

Dr. Kolozsváry participated in his first international conference held in Switzerland 1968. He attended many meetings and conferences of the International Federation for Heat Treatment (IFHT) from the beginning of the Federation (1971) and he has represented Romania in the Federation from 1986.

He became IFHTSE President in 1998 and Treasurer of the Federation in 2001, which duty he served until 2016. He became a Fellow of IFHTSE in 2007. He was the project leader for the IFHTSE initiative "Global 21", a survey on the state of the art and expected development trends in heat treatment and surface engineering in the early years of the 21st century.

Dr. Kolozsváry was born in 1937 in Târgu Mureș, Romania. He graduated with honors from the Technical University of Bucharest in 1959. He started to work in the machine factory „Encsel Mór” (Târgu Mureș) as trainee and soon became the head of the Heat Treatment workshop. In 1963, he was commissioned to build a nitriding furnace and technology for large parts used for knitting machines. This development has ultimately determined his professional and scientific career where he focused on the effect of nitriding technology (salt bath and atmosphere treatments) on the wear of steel parts. He defended his doctoral dissertation in 1970. The year after, he was nominated to establish a Romanian Research Institute for Heat Treatments and Surface engineering. His patents on gas nitriding have been used by several companies related to the German vehicle industry and his company “Plasmatherm” is well noted for plasma nitriding for many different applications. In 1973 he was invited to Liverpool University as a visiting researcher by Professor Tom Bell. He became the scientific director of the institute “Metalotehnica” 1976.

He has published more than 200 scientific and technological papers in 8 languages, several chapters in Metal Handbooks, ASM Handbooks and Handbook of Residual Stress and Deformation.

From the foundation of the then IFHT 1971/72, Urs Wyss served as Secretary of the then IFHT until 1988. In that period, and especially in the early days, his dedication, charm and easy ability in German, French and English ensured a successful launch for the Federation. He wrote the constitution, inspired the early meetings, encouraged his collaborators and fostered fruitful East-West relations. Without him, it is unlikely that the venture would have been so fruitful.

Wyss combined his organisational and administrative skills with a successful materials engineering career in industry. As manager of the metallurgical laboratory and heat treatment workshop of Maag Zahnräder AG, Zürich, he developed a drip-feed technology using liquid hydrocarbons (Carbomaag) which brought him many international patents. Significant publications and conference contributions resulted from his industrial work.

In 1982, AWT awarded him the Adolf Martens medal. He was President of the Swiss Society for Heat Treatment in 1953, when he was only 30, and was appointed their Honorary President in 1972. He was also an Honorary Member of the Association Technique de Traitement Thermique (ATTT), France. In 2006 he was awarded the IFHTSE Medal.

As early as 1970, in the preparation meeting for the foundation of the then IFHT, Dr. Meyer, director of Climax Molybdenum, Zurich, Switzerland, took the active role of Chairman of the Founding Committee and was subsequently President until 1974.

"Professor Tamura, elected as Vice-President in 1990, had reluctantly decided that, for health reasons, he would be unable to take office as President of IFHT for the period 1992-1993. In recognition of Professor Tamura's work on behalf of IFHT, the Executive Committee unanimously recommended his appointment as Honorary (life) Vice-President. The Governing Council approved this with acclamation and Professor Tamura accepted the honour."
(From the minutes of the Governing Council Assembly 1992 in Kyoto, Japan)

"He (the President) also placed on record the Governing Council's gratitude to the organisers of the Chicago Congress in general, and the generous hospitality of Mr Bodeen in particular. He reported the award of a commemorative document to Mr Bodeen"
(From the minutes of the Governing Council Assembly 1989 in Lisbon, Portugal)