Vámos Tibor

In 1950, he worked as an employee of the Power Plant Investment Company (ERBE) on the electrical installation works of the Inota Thermal Power Plant, and then from 1952 on the construction of the Danube Iron Works, in engineering and construction manager positions.

Between 1954 and 1958, he was a postgraduate student at the Electric Power Research Institute (VEIKI), where he worked on process control of electric power plants and systems (the topic of his PhD dissertation was load control of drum pulverized coal-fired boilers).

He was the head of the Automation Department of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences from 1958 to 1964. He defended his academic doctoral dissertation – on the dynamic behavior of power plants and energy systems and the domestic application of computer methods – in 1964.
In 1964, he founded the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Automation Research Institute (AKI) with Otto Benedikt and Frigyes Csáki, which was then merged with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Computer Science Research Center, and together with his colleagues he established the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Computer Science and Automation Research Institute (SZTAKI) in 1974. He was its director until 1985; between 1986 and 2010, he was the chairman of the Institute Council and professor emeritus.

Professor at the Budapest University of Technology (BME) since 1969. Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Central European University (CEU) Scientific Program since 1990. In 1993 he was a guest at George Mason University in the US, and an honorary research professor in 1993 and 1994. Corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1973, and a full member since 1979.

His areas of expertise: initially process control of large systems, later artificial intelligence, including knowledge-based systems, knowledge representation, robot vision, shape recognition, epistemology.
As a technical man, he knew the Greek classics, modern arts, and understood the aspects and language of the social sciences: he was seen as a connecting link between science and industry.

His active scientific and social activities are indicated by his more than 270 publications; he has written and edited several books. He was a member of the editorial boards of international and domestic journals (e.g.: Magyar Tudomány).
He held presidential and honorary positions in numerous scientific and professional organizations. Thus: between 1981-1984, he was the president of the International Federation for Automation (IFAC), from 1987 a Life Time Advisor; from 1986 an honorary member (Fellow) of the American Electrical and Electronics Association (IEEE); from 1986 an honorary member (fellow) of the European Coordination Committee for Artificial Intelligence; from 1975-1985, he was the president and then honorary president of the NJSZT; from 1992 an honorary member of the Austrian Computer Society (ÖCG); from 1994 a member of the Austrian Cybernetics Research Society; from 1999 an honorary member of the Hungarian Society of Ancient Sciences. He was a member of the Professional Doctoral Council of the Doctoral School of Technology, Engineering and History of Science (TMTT) since 2002; of the Automation and Computer Technology Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; to the Informatics Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

His main professional awards: State Prize (Hungarian State, 1963); Neumann Prize (NJSZT, 1986); Honorary Doctorate of the Tallinn University of Technology (1986); IFAC Medal (1990); Chorafas Prize (Swiss Academy of Sciences, 1994); Middle Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (Hungarian State, 1996); Popular Scientist of the Year (Scientific Journalists Club, 2005); Neumann Plaque and Diploma (NJSZT, 2006); Lifetime Achievement Award (NJSZT, 2006); Széchenyi Prize (Hungarian State, 2008).