The Department of Hydrodynamic Systems was founded in 1899 by Donát Bánki. Bánki was the first engineer member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and became famous for the turbine type and carburetor named after him. He was the first to design a hydropower plant on the Iron Gates section of the Danube, but this project was never realized due to World War I. One of his teaching assistants was the renowned Theodore von Kármán.

From 1930, the Department was led by the outstanding engineering educator Géza Pattantyús-Ábrahám, a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He initiated development work on pneumatic conveying systems and the study of transient processes in pipelines. The Department also participated in the design work for the Tiszalök Hydroelectric Power Plant. Professor Pattantyús passed away in the summer of 1956.

The next head of the Department was József Varga, who achieved internationally recognized results in cavitation research and the study of cavitation damage. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Department trained marine engineering specialists under the leadership of Professor Béla Balogh.

László Pápai succeeded Professor Varga and, together with Professor László Kovács, made significant advances in the theoretical foundation of pneumatic conveying of dilute and dense flows.

Olivér Fűzy introduced the hydrodynamic lattice theory to the department for the design of pump impellers.

Between 1992 and 2008, the Department was led by László Kullmann and later by Gábor Halász. During this time, research focused on transient fluid flows in open and closed channels, simulation of unsteady gas pipeline flows, and hemodynamics (blood flow). Emphasis was placed on mathematical methods in signal processing and the design of fluid mechanical machines in education. In 1994, Zoltán Vajna joined the Department.

Since 2008, the Department of Hydrodynamic Systems has been led by György Paál. Under his leadership, the Department conducts internationally recognized research on flow stability and computer simulations of arterial aneurysms.

The department teaches mechanical, mechatronics, energy and chemical engineering students at undergraduate and master’s level. Most of the textbooks for the taught full-year courses have been and are still published. The department also participates in the English and German language courses in mechanical engineering in five to six subjects. The continuous development and expansion of the focus subjects is reflected not only in the bachelor and master programmes, but also in the doctoral programme. Our department’s industrial relations are intensive and research work is also fruitful.

The Department of Hydrodynamic Systems’ laboratory, consisting of three halls, is located on the northern campus of BME. The current Pandula Hall was originally established by Donát Bánki, while the other two halls were built after World War II. One of these also houses a workshop.
The laboratory is used for practical training of students in year-long core courses, typically involving six experiments per semester. Research and development work takes place within the framework of semester-long independent projects, theses, diploma works, and doctoral studies.

The major equipment set up in the laboratory is the cavitation channel, the open surface flow type demonstration facility and the haemodynamics laboratory. The laboratory is home to the development work of the BME Solar Boat Team student development group on a solar-powered watercraft. Together with the Department of Fluid Dynamics we use a laser doppler anemometry (LDA) facility, which is currently set up in our lab. Our laboratory is supported by equipment from our industrial partners.

The department is currently conducting research in six areas, which has been presented in international publications.

• Hemodynamics, in which research is conducted in collaboration with clinics in Budapest and Debrecen, partly in Dutch cooperation.
• Cavitation bubble dynamics and sonochemistry in collaboration with ELTE TTK and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
• Flow stability and development of flow resistance reducing structures.
• Developing the reliability of pressure relief, bleed valves and systems incorporating them in collaboration with the University of Bristol.
• Enhancing the operational safety of large waterworks networks and designing such networks.
• The effect of non-Newtonian fluid flow on fluid mechanics and vehicle braking systems.

The department currently employs two university professors, one associate professor, six assistant professors, one teaching assistant and three research associates, as well as ten doctoral students and five additional staff members.

Future plans:

• Research into sonochemistry for the further development of chemical reactors.
• Practical implementation of methods for reducing flow resistance.
• Supporting effective medical applications (stent therapies) with the results of aneurysm research.
• Further development of design methods for robust, reliable pipe networks.
• Application of artificial intelligence results in education.