István Balazs

* Kispalugya, August 20, 1881 – † Sopron, February 11, 1962 / ironworks engineer, college teacher ; ; He graduated from the secondary school in Körmöcbánya in 1900. He obtained his ironworks engineering diploma at the Academy of Mining and Forestry Engineering in Selmecbánya in 1905. He completed his two-year industrial internship at the Zólyombrézó ironworks. Already in 1904, he became an assistant teacher to Professor Géza Barlai at the Academy, to which he remained loyal until his death. He served throughout World War I, was discharged as a reserve first lieutenant on December 14, 1918, and immediately rushed to Selmecbánya, where he helped in the relocation of the Academy to Sopron. Since Professor Barlai fell seriously ill and died in 1921, István Balázs headed the Department of Ferrous Metallurgy. In 1923, the Department of Combustion and Materials Testing was established, with István Balázs as its head. In 1929, he managed to equip a laboratory and from then on he published more frequently in professional journals. The department he led examined not only the properties of alloyed cast iron, but also the properties of wood, sand and steel, in order to satisfy the needs of forestry, foundry and iron and steel metallurgy. He retired in 1938, but even after that he often gave lectures at the college.