Tadeusz Sendzimir
Encyclopedia
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
engineer and inventor of international renown with 120 patents in mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, 73 of which were awarded to him in the United States.
His name has been given to revolutionary methods of processing steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and metals used in every industrialized nation of the world. Sendzimir was a holder of the Polish Golden Cross of Merit (from 1938), the Bessemer Gold Medal (from 1965) and the Brinell Gold Medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
(from 1974). On the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
he was one of those prominent immigrants honored for their contributions to America.
In 1990 Poland's large steel plant in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
(formerly the Lenin Steelworks) was renamed to Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks. The AIST Tadeusz Sendzimir Memorial Medal was established in the same year.
Early years
Sendzimir was the eldest son of Kazimierz Sędzimir belonging to the Clan of OstojaClan of Ostoja
The Clan of Ostoja was a powerful group of Knights and Lords in late medieval Europe. The clan encompassed several families in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Upper Hungary , Hungary, Transylvania, Belorus, Ukraine and Prussia....
and Wanda Jaskółowska. Fascinated by machinery as a child, he built his own camera at the age of 13. After studying at the 4th Classical Gymnasium (Gimnazjum Klasyczne) in Lwów he entered the Politechnika Lwowska
Lviv Polytechnic
Lviv Polytechnic National University is the largest scientific university in Lviv. Since its foundation in 1844, it was one of the most important centres of science and technological development in Central Europe. In the interbellum period, the Polytechnic was one of the most important technical...
. However when Lwów was captured by Russian troops the Polytechnic Institute was closed and he moved to Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. There he worked in auto services and in the Russian-American Chamber of commerce where he learned Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
forced Sendzimir to flee to Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
, then to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, where Sendzimir built the first factory in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
which produced screws, nails and wire. Financial support was provided by the Russian-Asian Bank, at the time headed by Poles (Władysław Jezierski and Zygmunt Jastrzębski).
Immigration and researches
In 1922 Sendzimir married Barbara Alferieff. His first son Michael was born two years later. Designing and making his own machines, Sendzimir began experimenting with a new way to galvanize steel. Despite galvanization, the products still had a tendency to oxidizeRust
Rust is a general term for a series of iron oxides. In colloquial usage, the term is applied to red oxides, formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water or air moisture...
. Sendzimir discovered that the problem was due to the zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
bonding to a thin layer of iron hydroxide on its surface, rather than to the iron.
In 1929 Sendzimir approached several American industrialists with his findings, but since the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
had begun, he was unsuccessful in gaining their interest. Returning to Poland in 1931, he obtained support for the construction of the first industrial-scale galvanizing unit and put several cold strip mills into operation. This process was explained by him as follows: "Let's imagine a piece of a hard pastry. We are rolling it on the pastry-board to decrease its thickness. However it would be faster and easier if we asked someone to stretch it by holding the edges".
A steel mill in Butler, Pennsylvania
Butler, Pennsylvania
The city of Butler is the county seat of Butler County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, situated north of Pittsburgh. The population was 15,121 at the 2000 census.- History :...
was established by Sendzimir in 1936. By 1938 Armco Steel became interested in his work and they formed a partnership with him, the Armzen Company, to oversee the worldwide expansion of his galvanizing and mill technology. In the spring of 1939 Sendzimir moved to Middletown, Ohio
Middletown, Ohio
Middletown is an All-America City located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Formerly in Lemon, Turtlecreek, and Franklin townships, Middletown was incorporated by the Ohio General Assembly on February 11, 1833, and became a city in 1886...
. Sendzimir's patented mill could roll hard materials down to very light gauges. The U.S. company, T. Sendzimir, Inc., was formed by him in Waterbury, Connecticut, in the 1940s
In 1945, he married Bertha Bernoda. The following year he became a citizen of the United States. With the beginning of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, Sendzimir and his achievements were ignored by Communist
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
Poland and he was not even mentioned in the Polish Encyklopedia Powszechna (Universal Encyclopedia). This changed when Edward Gierek
Edward Gierek
Edward Gierek was a Polish communist politician.He was born in Porąbka, outside of Sosnowiec. He lost his father to a mining accident in a pit at the age of four. His mother married again and emigrated to northern France, where he was raised. He joined the French Communist Party in 1931 and was...
, a new leader of the Polish United Workers' Party
Polish United Workers' Party
The Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :...
, came to power. Sendzimir was awarded an Officer Cross of the Order Polonia Restituta
Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta is one of Poland's highest Orders. The Order can be conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, defense of the country, social work, civil service, or for furthering good relations between countries...
(Krzyż Oficerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski).
In 1975 Sendzimir received the honorary degree of doctor honoris causa from the AGH University of Science and Technology
AGH University of Science and Technology
AGH University of Science and Technology is the second largest technical university in Poland, located in Kraków. The university was established in 1919, and was formerly known as the University of Mining and Metallurgy...
in Kraków. Sendzimir's successful methods for galvanizing steel eventually were implemented in the first Z-mill
Z-mill
A Z-mill is a machine for rolling steel. Instead of using a single pair of rolls the Z-mill uses several supporting rolls to put the force on the small active rolls in the center . This allows to yield a higher pressure without bending the rolls to much. Thus very hard and elastic materials can be...
rolling silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
steel, making it pliable enough for use in air defense radar. Between 1953 and 1989 he introduced the first productive Z-mill to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1974 Sendzimir invented a spiral steel looper used in both the United States and Japan.
Ninety percent of the world's stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
production went through the Sendzimir process
Sendzimir process
Sendzimir process is used to galvanize a steel strip by using a small amount of aluminum in the zinc bath and producing a coating with essentially no iron-zinc alloy. The process guarantees high resistance and durability characteristics...
by the early 1980s. Poland, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada purchased his steel mills and technologies over the years. Most notably, Sendzimir was a major financial and personal supporter of the Kościuszko Foundation
Kosciuszko Foundation
Kosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange.-History:...
, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America
Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America
The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America is a Polish-American scholarly institution headquartered in Manhattan , at 208 East 30th Street.-History:...
and Alliance College in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Sendzimir died after a massive stroke and was buried by his family in a zinc-plated coffin made according to his design.
Quote
- "I have been carrying family and the only my capital - a new method of zinc-plating to another coast of the Pacific"
See also
- Sendzimir processSendzimir processSendzimir process is used to galvanize a steel strip by using a small amount of aluminum in the zinc bath and producing a coating with essentially no iron-zinc alloy. The process guarantees high resistance and durability characteristics...
- Sendzimir planetary mill
- Berthe Sendzimir
- Ostoja coat of arms
- Clan of OstojaClan of OstojaThe Clan of Ostoja was a powerful group of Knights and Lords in late medieval Europe. The clan encompassed several families in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Upper Hungary , Hungary, Transylvania, Belorus, Ukraine and Prussia....