Zdenek Trnka
1912 - 1968
"Prof. Dr. Ing. Zdeněk Trnka – Short Biography"
Zdeněk Trnka was born on October 2, 1912 in Prague, Czechoslovakia
After obtaining his electrical engineering degree in 1936 from the Czech Technical University in Prague (České Vysoké Učení Technické), he submitted a dissertation thesis on “Harmonic Analysis of Empiric curves” in 1937 and obtained his doctorate.
During his studies he worked already at the faculty of theoretical and experimental electrotechnics, the place of his first teaching position.
After the closing of Czech Universities by the Nazi occupants in 1939, he worked at the Brown & Boveri and at the Physical Institute of Škoda company.
After the war in 1945, he worked hard at the reconstruction of the faculty of theoretical and experimental electrotechnics, damaged by the occupation.
In 1946 he was appointed as Professor and he published his first book Introduction to theoretical electrotechnics used by all students of the faculty. This book was followed by other technical books and monographs including his Servomechanisms, translated to several languages, and awarded by a State Prize by the President of the republic in 1955.
In 1947 he visited US Universities to study the emerging computing science. He met Prof. Howard Aiken at Harvard University where he offered him the Harmonic Analyzer, which is currently part of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.
Prof. Trnka was the founder of several specialized labs in the field of the automatic control. He was appointed as correspondent member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. His scientific and pedagogical merits are recognized still today after more than 50 years after his passing.
In spite of his perceivable disapproval of the Communist regime, his competence and scientific reputation have protected his team and himself from major political persecutions.
Trnka Laboratory for automatic control:
https://web.archive.org/web/20030605233741/http:/dce.felk.cvut.cz/tl/.
Trnka medal for technical merit:
https://media.cvut.cz/cs/foto/20180108-trnkova-medaile.
Zdenek Trnka loved to spend his vacation time with his family at their small country house where he continued his technical experiments like installing the windmill to bring the electricity to the house in 1955. His sense of humor was very appreciated by his friends and family and his skills as an excellent pianist allowed him to perform improvised home concerts.
Eliska Kurzweil - Trnka
Daughter of Zdenek Trnka
July 9, 2020
Zdeněk Trnka was born on October 2, 1912 in Prague, Czechoslovakia
After obtaining his electrical engineering degree in 1936 from the Czech Technical University in Prague (České Vysoké Učení Technické), he submitted a dissertation thesis on “Harmonic Analysis of Empiric curves” in 1937 and obtained his doctorate.
During his studies he worked already at the faculty of theoretical and experimental electrotechnics, the place of his first teaching position.
After the closing of Czech Universities by the Nazi occupants in 1939, he worked at the Brown & Boveri and at the Physical Institute of Škoda company.
After the war in 1945, he worked hard at the reconstruction of the faculty of theoretical and experimental electrotechnics, damaged by the occupation.
In 1946 he was appointed as Professor and he published his first book Introduction to theoretical electrotechnics used by all students of the faculty. This book was followed by other technical books and monographs including his Servomechanisms, translated to several languages, and awarded by a State Prize by the President of the republic in 1955.
In 1947 he visited US Universities to study the emerging computing science. He met Prof. Howard Aiken at Harvard University where he offered him the Harmonic Analyzer, which is currently part of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.
Prof. Trnka was the founder of several specialized labs in the field of the automatic control. He was appointed as correspondent member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. His scientific and pedagogical merits are recognized still today after more than 50 years after his passing.
In spite of his perceivable disapproval of the Communist regime, his competence and scientific reputation have protected his team and himself from major political persecutions.
Trnka Laboratory for automatic control:
https://web.archive.org/web/20030605233741/http:/dce.felk.cvut.cz/tl/.
Trnka medal for technical merit:
https://media.cvut.cz/cs/foto/20180108-trnkova-medaile.
Zdenek Trnka loved to spend his vacation time with his family at their small country house where he continued his technical experiments like installing the windmill to bring the electricity to the house in 1955. His sense of humor was very appreciated by his friends and family and his skills as an excellent pianist allowed him to perform improvised home concerts.
Eliska Kurzweil - Trnka
Daughter of Zdenek Trnka
July 9, 2020
Terms
"About us," DCE.FELK.CVUT.CZ, (accessed via The Internet Archive Wayback machine) https://web.archive.org/web/20030605233741/http://dce.felk.cvut.cz/tl/ (accessed 07/20/2015)