The strategic partnership between Ukraine and the U.S., in particular between Energoatom and Westinghouse, is enhancing every year. New projects are added to the portfolio of successful jointly implemented plans, and the ambitions and prospects for new achievements are focused on strengthening Ukraine’s energy independence.
Few people know that a century ago, an outstanding Ukrainian, Stephen Prokopovych Timoshenko (22/12/1878 –29/05/1972), also contributed to the development of the capacities of the American company Westinghouse. A native of Chernihiv province (currently, Konotop district of Sumy region), became the father of theoretical mechanics and the founder of the theory of strength of materials, the theory of elasticity and vibration.
Stephen Timoshenko began his scientific and teaching activities at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. In 1909, he was elected Dean of Engineering Department, he developed a textbook on strength of materials, completed the monograph “On Stability of Elastic Systems” (1910).
In 1918, under the leadership of V.I. Vernadskyi, S. Timoshenko became one of the founders and the first Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (UAS), headed the Institute of Technical Mechanics of the UAS organized by him.
However, in the conditions of the turbulent events of 1918–1919 – the capture of Kyiv by the Denikin’s division, and subsequently by the Bolsheviks – his scientific and teaching activities practically ceased, and the activities of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences were paralyzed. Deprived of work and means of subsistence, understanding the risks of the occupation by the Bolsheviks, Stephen Timoshenko agreed to the offer to head the Department of Metal Resistivity at the Zagreb Polytechnic Institute in 1920.
In the spring of 1922, the Ukrainian scientist was invited to the position of scientific consultant of the famous Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His duties in the company included the invention and improvement of small measuring devices, handling complex engineering problems related to strength of materials, as well as consulting various technical departments of the company.
S. Timoshenko also played an important educational role at Westinghouse, teaching an evening course on the theory of elasticity and vibration for young engineers, which later turned into a regular seminar. That was probably one of the first cases in the U.S. when such a theoretical course was taught directly in an industrial company. His course was focused on application tasks directly related to work experience internship.
Since the 1920s of the 20th century, the scientist had successfully combined teaching activities at the University of Michigan with cooperation with Westinghouse. Later, he accepted an invitation from Stanford University to head Department of Mechanics, where he continued to develop his scientific activities. During that period, S. Timoshenko published two monographs: “Applied Theory of Elasticity” and “Vibration Problems in Engineering”, and developed a number of textbooks on engineering mechanics, which were translated into 36 languages of the world afterwards.
In 1940, for his significant scientific achievements, he was elected a standing member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Timoshenko’s scientific achievements were recognized worldwide. In the United States of America, in particular, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) awarded the Ukrainian scientist a personalized medal. It is awarded annually to scientists for outstanding achievements in the field of applied mechanics. The first to receive it in the year of its foundation was Stephen Timoshenko himself: “For invaluable contribution and personal example of a leader of a new era in applied mechanics”.
Timoshenko’s contribution to physics is not forgotten in his homeland either. The Institute of Mechanics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is named after the scientist. In Kyiv, a memorial plaque with his portrait is installed on the house where he lived. In addition, in Stephen Timoshenko’s alma mater – on the territory of the Kyiv Polytechnic – a monument to the Academician reminds of the high achievements of the Ukrainian.
Ukraine is proud of the outstanding Ukrainian engineer Stephen Timoshenko, who made a significant and undeniable contribution to the development of domestic science, laying the fundamental principal of theoretical mechanics, the theory of strength of materials and elasticity. His scientific achievements not only became a powerful basis for engineering education in Ukraine, but also significantly influenced the development of the leading energy company Westinghouse Electric.
