Gépészet 2002 1-2. [antikvár]

PREFACE The conference entitled „Mechanical Engineering 2002", initiated by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, is being currently organized for the third time. Its aim is to provide a continuous flow of scientific results achieved in different fields of mechanical engineering. Besides, to open up possibilities and a forum in connection with scientific life for young researchers. It has become a tradition of mechanical engineering conferences that presentations focus on a single and prominent special field. This year it is energetics. Focusing on this field is very much justified by several aspects. On the one hand, for its past significance in the development of mechanical engineering science, while on the other, for questions to be solved and closely related to environmental protection, energy production, and energy consumption in the coming decade. After a short review on history, it can be stated that inventing the steam-engine gave a primary impulse to the industrial revolution. Fully understanding steam-engine operations was leading up to formulating the principles of thermodynamics, and describing steam-operations. Manufacturing, materials science, and lubrication theory, just to mention a few special fields of mechanical engineering, were developing parallelly. Significant inventions and machines, used also in energy, are related to the name of several Hungarian professors and developing engineers, like Donát Bánki, György Jendrassik, Tódor Kármán, Géza Pattantyús-Ábrahám, and László Heller. The list of tasks to solve is not short either. The efficiency of energy producing systems has to be further developed, and the utilization of renewing energy sources has to be made more economical in order to save the environment and the biosphere from further deterioration. New methods and technologies have to be elaborated, hand in hand with upgrading current ones, so that necessary energy constmiption could be decreased. Some of the tasks referred to go beyond mechanical engineering, and this fact revalues team-work, the collaboration of experts cultivating a variety of fields. I sincerely trust that the current conference adequately meets the challanges, and contributes to the development of energetics in Hungary. Antal Penninger