Mihály Sándory

In 1949, he was an intern at the TUNGSRAM Audion factory. After graduating from university, he worked at the Department of Wired Communications of the Budapest University of Technology. From 1955, he worked in a diverse and diversified role at the Central Physical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (KFKI). His main areas of activity were: instrumentation of physical experiments, data management and data storage.

From 1963, under his leadership, the Measurement and Computing Research Institute (MSZKI) of the Hungarian Federal University of Science and Technology (KFKI) – of which he was later a key director – began building a small computer based on DEC's Small Computers Logic Handbook of the time and the Assembler language. The result, the TPA1001, a PDP-8 clone, was the first in the legendaryly successful TPA series that played an important role in Hungarian IT until the 1990s. The computer system, which later spread in thousands of copies, is still the most successful domestic example of the coordination of research-development-production and can serve as an example.

Between 1979 and 1982, in addition to his position as Deputy Director General of KFKI, he headed the Department of Natural Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is a candidate of technical sciences.

Between 1981 and 1984, he was the government commissioner for microelectronics; he then became the CEO of the Mikroelektronikai Vállalat (MEV), where they developed and manufactured integrated circuits.

He was awarded the State Prize for his significant work in the development of TPA systems (1973). Other important awards include the Neumann Prize (NJSZT, 1982); Order of Merit for Socialist Hungary (1985); Lifetime Achievement Award (NJSZT, 2020).