György Jendrassik

György Jendrassik or George Jendrassik (1898, Budapest – 1954, London) was a Hungarian physicist and mechanical engineer.

Early life and education Jendrassik completed his education at Budapest's József Technical University, then at the University of Berlin, where he attended lectures of the famous physicists Albert Einstein and Max Planck. In 1922, he obtained his diploma in mechanical engineering in Budapest. From 1927 onward, he worked at Ganz Rt, where he helped to develop diesel engines, of which the first few pieces were made with single and double cylinders. Later, the 4- and 6-cylinder four-stroke versions were developed, without compression and with mixing chamber. The Ganz Study Department came up with the idea that Diesel engines, which until then had only been used in heavy-duty factory work, should be further developed to make them mobile and much smaller, so that they could also be fit in vehicles and in industries requiring less power, such as transport. Jendrassik therefore developed designs for simple, low and medium-power, high-speed diesel engines and patented them under the name Ganz-Jendrassik engines. This was later developed into two-, four- and six-cylinder versions, which were stable, suitable for rail and marine propulsion, and which featured a combustion chamber in the front. In 1927, seeing the success of the diesel engines, Jendrassik developed the first patents and engines within the Study Department, and in the summer of 1927 the independent Jendrassik Engine Construction Department was established. This department continued to operate after Jendrassik's death until the end of 1958.

Pre-chamber combustion for better mixture formation and to achieve higher operational RPM. Decompression device to accelerate starting and reaching normal operating conditions. Advanced spring-operated fuel pump. From the 1940 turbocharged models also appeared.

Due to its relatively high RPM, the engine was installed in smaller railcars and boats.

The engines designed for motor cars were intended to replace older gasoline engines.

Jendrassik next began work on a larger turboprop engine, which would emerge as the CS-1 prototype, produced and tested in the Ganz works in Budapest. Of axial-flow design with 15-stage compressor and 7-stage turbine, it incorporated many modern features. With predicted output of 1,000 bhp at 13,500 rpm the Cs-1 stirred interest in the Hungarian aircraft industry with its potential to power a modern generation of high-performance aircraft, and construction was begun of a twin-engined fighter-bomber, the Varga RMI-1 X/H, to be powered by it. Its first bench run took place in 1940, making it the world's first turboprop engine to run. However, combustion problems were experienced which limited the output to around 400 bhp. Development was discontinued in 1941, when an agreement was reached to manufacture the Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine in Hungary.

Jendrassik's became the factory's managing director from 1942 to 1945. In recognition of his scientific work, in 1943 he was elected as a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The number of his inventions on record only in Hungary is 77. His last invention of great importance was the pressure-compensating device for jet engines at the Power Jets Ltd. He died on 8 February 1954 in London.