Árpád Klatsmányi

From 1947 he worked as a design engineer at TUNGSRAM. From 1949 he was transferred to the factory's research laboratory. From 1951 he was an invited lecturer at the Budapest University of Technology (BME), from 1952 he was an associate professor and head of the department, later an honorary university professor. After 1956 he was dismissed from the university due to his role in the revolution.

As a mechanical engineer with excellent theoretical knowledge and practical sense, he became one of the leading figures in the domestic electronics industry in the 1960s. He began his computer engineering activities in 1959 at the Electronic Measuring Instruments Factory (EMG), in the position of technical secretary of the development director. His task was to control certain laboratories of the development department of the measuring instruments factory and to provide professional advice. During this period, Hungarian semiconductor research began intensively.
In 1960, at an exhibition in London, he became aware that analog measurement technology had been replaced by the world of digitalized measuring devices. After returning home, he established the Digital System Development Group, and on his initiative, he and his colleagues created a number of new digital devices. His first creation was the transistorized logic building block family containing the elements named EDS 1000, -4000, -6000, and -9000: this was used to implement the green wave at the intersections of the Grand Boulevard in Budapest. Then, within 5 months, in 1965, they developed and mass-produced the HUNOR electronic desktop computer family (a novelty throughout Europe in the 1960s). The EMG 830 modular computer they developed was the first electronic computer developed entirely in Hungary, of which 10 copies were manufactured and put into operation. Its modular structure met the technical world standards of the time. In 1968, EMG came out with a process control machine; that same year, EMG's CEO accepted the computer manufacturing program.

He also played a leading role in the localization of the first French CII 10010 license purchased for the R10 computer being produced within the framework of the ESZR, but in 1970 the development and production rights were given to Videoton. Because of this, the staff of the 130-person Klatsmányi laboratory was drastically reduced, and most of its leading specialists transferred to other companies. In the mid-1980s, EMG's computer technology activities practically ceased.

According to our knowledge, he worked as the head of the computer science department at the Technical and Scientific Information Institute (MTTI) of the Ministry of Metallurgy and Mechanical Industry (KGM) from 1975. In the meantime, he fulfilled various expert assignments at home and abroad. He requested his retirement in 1983, when he started a private computer science business, in which he was active until the early 2000s. In addition, he was a lecturer at BME and the Institute of Advanced Engineering Training for years; he was also awarded the title of honorary university professor of BME.

Between 1961 and 1976, he was the secretary of the 6th working committee of the Electronic Measuring Instruments Section of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). 1993: founding member of the Jedlik Ányos Society. – He had 21 accepted patents.

Awards: Outstanding Worker of Education (BME, 1956); Silver Degree of the Order of Labor Merit (1964); Lóránd Eötvös Award (Minister of Education, 1993); Kalmár Award (NJSZT, 1996).