Award Recognizes Contributions to Electric Power Generation

Jun 11, 2008 2:56 PM

Professor István Nagy, a research professor at the Budapest University of Technology, Hungary, has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 IEEE William Newell Award for his role in developing four generations of excitation systems for large electric power plants in his home country and much of Eastern Europe. Nagy’s early research on the excitation systems of turbine generators resulted in the development and implementation of safe and reliable electric power plants in Hungary, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

The award, sponsored by the IEEE Power Electronics Society, recognizes Nagy for leadership in the research, development, worldwide promotion and university education in power electronics technology. It will be presented to Nagy at the 39th IEEE Power Electronics Specialist Conference June 19, 2008 in Rhodes, Greece.

Under his direction, his department at the Research Institute of Automation and Computation jointly with another department in Hungary researched a fully automatic fuel handling system for nuclear power plants. These plants were commissioned by the former Soviet Union and used throughout most of Eastern Europe. Nagy’s research department also developed high-frequency inverters used in induction heating and single and three-phase uninterruptible power supplies and inverter-fed motor drives.

Currently, Nagy’s research team is focused on developing environmentally friendly power production technologies, specifically the utilization of waste and renewable energies, and the efficient use of solar energy. During his more than 50-year career, Nagy has been both a teacher and consultant. He held a part-time consulting position with Ganz Electric Work in Budapest for 14 years, and has been a visiting professor at universities around the globe.

An IEEE Fellow, Nagy holds 13 patents and has published 250 papers and several books. He has received numerous honors including election into the Hungarian Academy of Science – the country’s most prestigious science organization; the Szechenyi prize in 2005 – the highest bestowment in science in Hungary; three golden awards for excellent inventions and the Zipernowsky prize from the Institute of Electrical Engineers, Hungary.

Nagy currently, serves as coordinator in the Distinguished Lecturer Program of IEEE-IES, and is chairman of the European-wide Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference. He also serves as president of the Hungarian National Committee within the International Council on Large Electric Systems with headquarters in Paris, France. Nagy earned a diploma in electrical engineering in the faculty of electrical engineering and received the degree of doctor technical from the Technical University of Budapest.