József Galamb (; 3 February 1881 – 4 December 1955) was a Hungarian

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, most known as main-engineer for designing the

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...

. Born in the town of

Makó Makó (, , Makowe, or , ) is a town in Csongrád County, in southeastern Hungary, from the Romanian border. It lies on the Maros River. Makó is home to 21,913 people and it has an area of , of which is arable land. Makó is the fourth-larges ...

in 1881, Galamb finished his education at the Budapest Industrial Technology Engineering Course (the predecessor of the present-day Óbuda University Bánki Donát Politechnical College) in 1899. After receiving his diploma in mechanical engineering he worked at the Steel Engineering Factory in Diósgyőr as a draftsman. He next served one year in military service. He worked at the Hungarian Automobile Co., where he won a postgraduate scholarship to Germany. After the navy he went to see the world – Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen. In 1903, he worked in many German cities as a skilled worker, he got the best education at Adler in Frankfurt. He was hired to assemble automotive engines in a process in which each engine was built completely by one man. When he learned of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, he used his savings to travel to America by ship in October 1903. After two months in New York, he found employment as a toolmaker at the Westinghouse Corporation in Pittsburgh. Although he planned to go back to Germany in 1904, instead he joined the Stearns Automobile Company in Cleveland as a carburetor maker.Ford Richardson, p. 124 Galamb applied for work at the Silent Northern plant, the reorganized Ford-Cadillac plant and the

Ford Piquette Avenue Plant The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant is a former factory located within the Milwaukee Junction area of Detroit, Michigan, in the United States. Built in 1904, it was the second center of automobile production for the Ford Motor Company, after the Fo ...

. All three offered him work within three hours. He joined the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

(twenty-four years old at that time) as a designer in December 1905. The Ford Motor Company had 300 employees at the time assembling the Ford Model A from purchased parts. Subsequent to redesigning the cooling system for the Model N, he became the chief designer of the company, and devised many of the parts of the famous Model T. From 1915, he worked on the Fordson tractor design. In 1921, he founded a scholarship for the poor students of his native town who wished to take up higher education at trade school. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was busy designing military hardware, e. g. anti-submarine detection systems. He visited Hungary many times, lecturing at the Association of Hungarian Engineers and Architects. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

on Ford's suggestion, he designed a small six-cylinder car, which was completed in 1942. On doctor's orders, he retired from active work in 1944. His influence played a role in the Ford V8 and

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

being assembled in Hungary from 1935.His bio at a Hungarian autosite
in Hungarian He died in 1955 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galamb, Jozsef 1881 births 1955 deaths People from Makó Hungarian Calvinist and Reformed Christians 20th-century Hungarian inventors Hungarian automotive engineers American automotive engineers Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States American automotive pioneers 20th-century American inventors