The quite diverse
technical and engineering sciences became a
part of the makeup of the Romanian Academy
at the end of the 19th century, at the same
time as autochthonous industry began to
develop and as a consequence of the
organization of technical education.
Among the pioneers in the technical sciences
who were members of the Romanian Academy,
builders were in the front ranks. Anghel
Saligny was the builder of the bridge at
Cernavoda, a monumental steel construction
which was at the time the largest in Europe
and the third largest in the world. Saligny
was also the first in the world to use
prefabricated reinforced concrete parts in
the construction of bridges and silos. He
was to become Vice President and, later,
President of the Academy. Other important
structural engineers who were members of the
Academy were Aurel Beles, a specialist in
anti-seismic structures, and Ion Ionescu,
designer of reinforced concrete waterworks
and renowned professor at the Bucharest
Polytechnic Institute, originally called The
Superior School of Bridges and Roads.
In the domain of aeronautics, the Romanian
Academy can certainly pride itself on its
many trailblazers and inventors. Traian
Vuia, a pioneer in the world of aviation,
built and patented the first airplane that
took off with the exclusive use of its own
motor and used a landing gear equipped with
pneumatic tires. He also invented a type of
high-performance boiler still in use today.
Henri Coanda built the world’s first jet
plane and discovered the "Coanda effect" in
aerodynamics. His inventive genius
materialized in the over 250 patents he was
granted in different technical specialties.
We must also mention Herman Oberth, a Saxon
born in Sibiu, who later worked in Germany.
He was the inventor of the multi-stage
rocket and was Werner von Braun’s professor.
Oberth was made an Honorary Member of the
Romanian Academy posthumously. The same
posthumous honor was also conferred upon
Aurel Vlaicu, an engineer, airplane builder
and highly skilled pilot. In 1912, Vlaicu
met a premature end at the age of 31, in an
attempt to cross the Carpathian Mountains in
his airplane named "Vlaicu II". Elie
Carafoli was professor at the Bucharest
Polytechnic Institute, where he built the
first wind tunnel in South Eastern Europe,
and elaborated the theory on which
calculation of the wing profiles of
supersonic planes is based. Carafoli was
President of the International Federation of
Astronautics.
In the ranks of specialists in fluid
mechanics (both aero-and hydro-dynamic), we
must mention Dumitru Dumitrescu and George
(Gogu) Constantinescu, who created the
science and technique of sonicity, the
transmission of mechanical energy through
elastic longitudinal vibrations in fluids.
Nicolae Tipei realized unusually important
scientific achievements in the realms of
aerodynamics, tribology (the study of
friction) and lubrication, in which his
contributions have now become reference
works. Virgiliu Niculae Constantinescu,
quondam President of the Academy and a
specialist in tribology and lubrication, was
one of the pioneers in the field of
lubrication with gases, a technique used
for, among other things, high-revolution
memory disks in some computers.
In the domains of energetics and
electrotechnics we could mention the
Academician Constantin Budeanu, formerly
Professor at the Bucharest Polytechnic
Institute, who studied distorted
(non-sinusoidal) power in electrical
installations and was a forerunner of the
international system of units of
measurement. Also a B.P.I. Professor was
Remus Radulet, who distinguished himself
through the study of the transitory
operating conditions of electrical circuits
and through the coordination of the
monumental 18-volume Lexiconul tehnic român
(The Romanian Technical Lexicon). He served
as Vice President and then President of the
International Electrotechnical Commission.
Original research with a worldwide impact
was undertaken by Paul Dimo in the field of
the analysis of electroenergetic systems
through modern mathematical means, such as
modal analysis, REI methods and graphic
analysis. In 1981, Dimo won the
international Montefiore Prize.
Metallurgy and machine construction were
represented by the Timisoara school, and it
was there that the Academicians Cornel
Miclosi and Stefan Nadasan gained
recognition, specifically in the fields of
welding and the resistance of materials.
Finally, in the domain of radio electronics,
we must note Tudor Tanasescu and his
original research into radio emissions, and
Gheorghe Cartianu, the originator of the use
of frequency modulation for
radio-communications in Romania.
Currently the Section of Technical Sciences
of the Romanian Academy coordinates two
research units. One is the Institute of
Solid Mechanics in Bucharest, established in
1948 under the name of the Institute of
Applied Mechanics and originally directed by
Academician Elie Carafoli. Among its most
important recent achievements, we will
mention those in the fields of the theories
of elasticity and plasticity, the theory of
vibrations, the theories of mechanisms and
robotics, tribology, Earth mechanics, etc.
The other unit is the Center for Fundamental
and Advanced Technical Research in
Timisoara, with sections devoted to
hydrodynamics, cavitation and magnetic
liquids, metallic constructions and welding,
electromechanics, vibrations and
vibro-percussion.
Among the most significant periodicals which
the Publishing House of the Romanian Academy
issues in the technical domains, we will
mention Revue Roumaine des Sciences
Techniques, with its two series, Mécanique
Appliquée and Electrotechnique et
Energétique.
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