Professor and academician Toma Dordea, honored on the 100th anniversary of his birth
personality of polytechnic university education
On February 11, 2021, Politehnica University Timișoara in partnership with the Romanian Academy, Timișoara branch, paid tribute to Professor and Academician Toma Dordea, remarkable creator of the electric machinery school within UPT, a personality of polytechnic university education, who dedicated himself to technical, scientific, didactic and research activities within Politehnica University Timișoara and, later, to the Romanian Academy - Timișoara branch, having the support of an innate pedagogical talent and a passion for knowledge.
The event, which celebrated 100 years since the birth of academician Toma Dordea, took place in hybrid mode, on site, in a restricted setting, inside the UPT Central Library, and online, through the Zoom platform, being streamed live on the Facebook pages of the university and the Romanian Academy, Timișoara branch.
During the festivity, academician Dan Dubină, the president of the Timișoara branch of the Romanian Academy, spoke about Toma Dordea's career in symbiosis with Politehnica University Timișoara and with the Romanian Academy, associate professor eng. Florin Dragan, Ph.D., the rector of UPT, who evoked the reference personality of Toma Dordea, a true model, who inspired generations of students, teachers and researchers, prof. eng. Sorin Mușuroi, Ph.D., vice-rector of UPT and moderator of the event, who under the title “In memoriam Toma Dordea, Our Professor” presented the life, career and activity of the academician, acad. Ion Boldea, who took the course of electric machines from Toma Dordea, and scientific researcher eng. Ileana Torac, Ph.D., the academic's collaborator in the last 25 years, who presented some of the significant contributions from UPT and the Romanian Academy, Timișoara branch, prof. eng. Aurel Câmpeanu, Ph.D., from the University of Craiova (via Zoom), prof. eng. Radu Munteanu, Ph.D., from the University of Cluj (via Zoom), prof. eng. Nicolae Muntean, Ph.D., (via Zoom), dean of the Faculty of Electrical and Power Engineering within UPT, former students and later collaborators of academician Toma Dordea, whose future career marked them.
The on-site event was also attended by Doina Ionaș, daughter of Toma Dordea, who was handed an Ad Honorem plaque by the Romanian Academy, Timișoara branch and Politehnica University Timișoara, to honor the Professor and Academician.
The event ended with the screening of a film with the speech given by Toma Dordea at the 2011 graduation ceremony.
The personality of academician Toma Dordea is exceptional. Born practically together with the Polytechnic School in Timișoara, he marked his evolution in style, elegance and achievements. He was one of the few teachers of this prestigious institution who gave life, with conviction, to the principle on which the university was founded "It is not the walls that make a school, but the spirit that reigns in it". He created not only an impressive scientific work, but also characters.
Toma Dordea, who was to be one of the remarkable scientists settled in Timișoara, was born on January 1, 1921 in the commune of Bungard in Sibiu County, in a family of hardworking peasants, and graduated from primary and secondary school in his hometown.
Being the first child of the family, he was the only one who benefited from the privilege to continue his studies, the material possibilities of the family being limited. He then graduated from the "Gheorghe Lazăr" high school in Sibiu, where he also won the "Traian Lalescu" national prize for mathematics and in 1940 he became a student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Timișoara, which he attended during the hard years of the war and graduated "Magna cum laude" in 1945.
His didactic and scientific career was linked, all his life, to the Politehnica University Timișoara. Noticed by his professors since his student years, he stayed as an assistant professor at the Department of Electrical Machines and Electrical Engineering immediately after graduating, working with remarkable personalities of the Timisoara Polytechnic such as Plauțius Andronescu, Corneliu Micloși, Aurel Bărglăzan, Valeriu Alaci and others who decisively influenced his professional career. In just three years, Toma Dordea became an associate professor, later being dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and vice-rector of the Polytechnic Institute.
From 1963 he was, for 34 years, full professor of the Department of Electric Machines. He defended his doctoral thesis entitled "Contributions to regulating the speed of the induction machine using metal-liquid sliding contact" with academician Corneliu Micloși, his concerns being related to this field in the coming years. He, in turn, became a Ph.D. supervisor in the specialty "Machines, appliances and electric drives" and managed to raise the training level of engineers in the specialty of electric machines.
Throughout his brilliant teaching career, he has trained 46 series of students and over 50 doctoral engineers, constituting an elite in the field of electric machines.
He had a continuous research activity in the field of electric machines, with particularly valuable results, also pursuing their application in the economy. His research was carried out at the Mechanical Construction Company in Reșița, at the companies "Electromotor" from Timișoara or "Electroputere" from Craiova for electric diesel locomotives, at the power plants from Turceni and Rovinari or at the hydrogenerator from Râul Mare from Retezat. Professor Toma Dordea has also been co-opted in numerous specialized government commissions to solve complex problems of national interest in his field of activity.
His numerous articles and scientific and didactic papers, over 120 in total, are reference works, fundamental in the field, characterized by their theoretical importance but also practical sustainability, and the numerous research programs of Professor Toma Dordea represent, as a whole, an original investigation and contribution to the researched area, some of which being award-winning inventions at the most important science fairs in the world.
Unlike his colleagues of the same generation, a constant passion was both the computer or the "electronic computer", as he liked to call it, and the programming languages, from the one at the Polytechnic Computing Center in the middle 70s, to the latest generation. He was really fascinated by the possibilities and computing performance of electronic computers, considering them an indispensable component in scientific work, such as deepening the understanding of electromagnetism or computational formulas used in design, which helped him to be a true trailblazer of the modern school of electric machines.
The academic community in the universities awarded him the distinction of "Doctor Honoris Causa" as a sign of appreciation. He was awarded numerous other awards, medals and orders and in 1994 he became a full member of the Romanian Academy and president of the Timișoara branch of the prestigious institution and consulting professor in the discipline he taught.
In 2008, Toma Dordea was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen" of Timișoara, for his remarkable presence in the academic life of the city and for his prodigious scientific and didactic activity. He passed away in Timișoara, on April 11, 2015, at the age of 94.
