Silesian University of Technology

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Prof. Edmund Romer

Youthful years

Edmund Romer was born on 18th February 1904 in Lviv. He was the son of Prof. Eugeniusz Romer, the most outstanding Polish geographer and cartographer, a scientist of worldwide renown. His father was an ardent patriot engaged in pro-independence activities, among others, merited in the preparation of materials supporting the position of the Polish delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference, which he attended as an expert. After graduating high school in Lviv, Edmund Romer decided to study at the Technical University in the Free City of Gdańsk in 1922, encouraged by an appeal from an organization of Polish students of the then wholly German university. In his contacts with the organization of the Fraternal Aid to Polish Students, which had a challenging role to play in the complicated political situation of the Free City of Gdańsk, he gained significant life experience. He became the secretary and later the chairman of this organization.

In his studies program, professional practices were of great importance. They determined the character of his entire professional activity. In his memoirs, he mentions, e.g., a factory apprenticeship at the Central Mechanical Workshops at Niwka mine near Sosnowiec and an apprenticeship at a new company 'Parowóz' in Warsaw. The last internship, in Brown-Boveri company, was a turning point in Edmund Romer's thoughts about his future professional activity:

"The internship at Brown-Boveri came to an end, and I returned to Gdansk. I learned a lot; I benefited a lot. And the most important was the conclusion I drew that you could learn anything with a bit of practice. This led me to the resolution that I will contribute to developing the electrical precision industry in Poland. After obtaining my diploma, I will start an appropriate production, for instance, electricity meters. I believe that I will succeed in this task."

With this determination, Edmund Romer finished his studies and returned to his family home:

"When I managed to electrify the railroad line from Gdańsk to Gdynia (my thesis defended in December 1927), the family home hugged me. An important stage in my life ended with the complete success achieved in normal time, which was accepted with appreciation but without emphases by my parents".

The young engineer clearly saw his professional path, as well as his immediate and future life goals. This is how he wrote about it in his memoirs:

"As one of the possibilities, I consider the establishment of a modern workshop to repair measuring and precision apparatus, (...). The further goal, the general idea of the development of the precision-electrotechnical industry, remained unchanged, also the specific task: the production of electrical measuring instruments, (...) ".

With the financial support of his father, Edmund Romer began producing sets for teaching optics to gymnasium students in Lviv in 1929. His company called the Scientific Aid Factory, initially employed two craftsmen. A novelty in Polish education was the very idea of practical exercises conducted by the students themselves instead of the demonstrations that had been commonly used so far. More complex and accurate measuring equipment, especially electric pointer measuring instruments, mainly of magneto-electric type, were also developed in the Department. The serial production of measuring instruments for direct current, alternating current and high-frequency range was started (the production of single and multi-band meters with rectifiers and thermocouples was mastered). They were intended for laboratories, as well as for the needs of telecommunication, the automotive industry, and the army. They manufactured, among others, sets of indicators and accessories for Polski Fiat. The manufactured equipment was based on the company's own design and technological solutions, which ensured significant independence from foreign countries. The plant developed very quickly and before the war, employing about 250 people, it fully covered the needs of the army and was constantly expanding the list of manufactured products. A considerable number of good constructors and technologists of measuring equipment as well as excellent craftsmen grew up there, many of whom worked in Poland for a long time after the war.

First years in Gliwice

In September 1939, Edmund Romer was mobilized, and after the defeat, he and the army ended up abroad, and all his material achievements were lost. He returned to the country in 1946 and resumed his professional activity, interrupted by the war, from producing school aids at the "Ognisko" cooperative in Bytom, founded by former employees of his Lviv Plant. He also worked as a consultant at the State School Aids Department in Warsaw.

During this period, he established contact with the organizing Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. In 1949, he took over the management of the Department of Optics and Precision Mechanics (ZOMP) at the Silesian University of Technology, established by Professor Tadeusz Malarski, and employing only three people at the time. Edmund Romer was instrumental in developing this Department, initiating the development and production of high-precision electrical measuring equipment, i.e., standard and decade resistors, normal cells, galvanometers, bridges, and compensators. This production was soon brought to a level that covered a significant part of domestic demand. Technological issues of precision apparatus were also developed here, such as the development of technology and equipment to produce hairsprings for pointer instruments. This technology paved the way for developing the "Era" factory and Edmund Romer's path to a scientific career.

ZOMP's second field of interest was chemical composition analyzers for gases (mainly O₂, CO₂, and CH₄ concentrations). Small-series production of this apparatus was based on in-house research and patents. Production of gas analyzers in larger series was lost to politics. Simply by intergovernmental agreements, this subject matter was assigned to another Comecon country.

During the almost 12 years of Romer's leadership of ZOMP, the Department experienced significant growth. Employment increased to 80 people, and a considerable group of designers and technologists of measuring apparatus was brought up there. ZOMP, as an auxiliary farm of the University, had limited possibilities for serial production of measuring instruments, so close cooperation was established with the INCO Factory in Pyskowice, which took over some of the staff from ZOMP and started serial production of many instruments developed there.

Teaching and research work

In parallel, Edmund Romer also developed his teaching and research activities at the Silesian University of Technology. Beginning in 1948, he lectured at the Department of Heat Engineering Measurements of the Mechanical Faculty. There he developed a new course: "Industrial Measurement and Control Instruments." He wrote the first textbooks for students. In 1955, he obtained the position of docent at the Mechanical Faculty, and in 1956, he moved to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and took over the leadership of the Chair of the Division of Non-electrical Measurement in the Department of Electrical Measurement, where he organized a laboratory from scratch. This is how he began his scientific and teaching activities, which years later led to the formation of the school of "industrial metrology".

Edmund Romer was one of the initiators and organizers of the new Faculty of Automatic Control (now the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics, and Computer Science) at the Silesian University of Technology. The faculty was established in 1964, and Edmund Romer organized there and then led the Department of Industrial Metering. With a team of co-workers (Janusz Piotrowski, Jerzy Frączek), he created new laboratories, developed new lectures, and developed research work for the industry extensively. He worked mainly with the metallurgical industry and the Cracow Measuring Apparatus Factory. He obtained the title of professor while already working at the Faculty of Automatic Control as in 1965 and was appointed full professor in 1971.

When the number of departments at the Faculty of Automatic Control was reduced from 7 to 5 in 1969, the team of people around Prof. Edmund Romer became part of the new Department of Computer Science as the Metrology Team. When the transition to the Department's institute structure took place in 1971, the Team became a part of the Institute of Automation and Measurements under the name of the Division of Measurement Systems.

Prof. Edmund Romer is the author of many manuscripts and academic textbooks in the field of industrial metrology. His most outstanding achievement in this field is his textbook “Miernictwo przemysłowe” (Industrial Metering), the first academic textbook in the country and one of the first on this subject in world literature. The third edition of this book from 1978 is a challenge to this day - a model awaiting successors who will make the effort to continue this subject matter in the realities of modern electronic and information technology, new sensor technologies, and the development of industrial measurement systems with field buses and intelligent sensors.

When engaging in developing a scientific issue, the professor saw the end goal and pursued the whole path - exploratory research, design and production technology, and the education of the people who would carry out this production. This attitude was evident in the lecture programs as well as in the scripts and textbooks developed by the professor. This was also experienced by his doctoral students.

The secret of his successes lies primarily in the excellent organization of work. The basic principle of his work was systematicity and self-control, leading to ever better use of time. He adhered to the principle of daily, uninterrupted, persistent, and consistent work. In his own academic work as well as that of his students, he adhered to the principle expressed in the well-known proverb: "The best is the enemy of the good," resulting in a fast pace of work.

In the last years of his life, Prof. Edmund Romer compiled and prepared for printing his father's notes and wrote a fascinating memoir about him. He also wrote his memoirs, published in excerpts in the Technical Review.

Professor Edmund Romer died on October 10, 1988. All those who had the honor of working with him will always remember him as an extremely hard-working man, devoted entirely to his professional duties, demanding solid and honest work from his colleagues, but kind and compliant. For his contributions to the country, to science, to the Silesian University of Technology and the Faculty of Automatic Control, but also for his way of life and conduct, he deserved our grateful memory and respect.

The most important publications:

"Pomiary temperatury w technice “(Temperature measurements in technology), Wroclaw 1951, Książnica Atlas
"Miernictwo przemysłowe“ (Industrial Metering), 3rd edition supplemented and revised, PWN Warsaw 1978 (three editions of the textbook: 1970, 1972, 1978), the first on this subject in the country and one of the first in the world literature.
"Geograf trzech epok” (Geographer of three epochs) memoirs about his father. Czytelnik, Warsaw 1985

6 textbooks and scripts, 12 patents, and about 40 articles in scientific and technical journals.

Major functions at the Silesian University of Technology:

Head of the Department of Optics and Precision Mechanics, 1949 - 1959
Head of the Division of Non-Electrical Measuring in the Department of Electrical Measurements, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, since 1956
Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, 1958 - 1961
Senior Construction Manager of the building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, 1960 - 1961
Senior Builder of the building of the Faculty of Automatic Control, 1967 - 1969
Head of the Department of Industrial Metering of the Faculty of Automatic Control, 1964 - 1969

Major functions in the Polish Academy of Sciences, and in scientific institutions and associations:

Member of the Mechanical Engineering Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Member of the Metrology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Member of the Metrology Committee of the Katowice Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Member of many scientific councils, including GUM, CUJM, PKNiM, ZKMPW, HIB (now IMŻ)

Important decorations:

Silver Cross of Merit 1954
Badge and title of Meritorious Rationalizer of Production, awarded by the Minister of Metallurgy, 1955
Gold Commemorative Badge of Pol. Sl. 1960
Badge of the 25th anniversary of Pol. Sl., 1965
Individual awards of the Minister of Education and Higher Education, IIIst. (1967), II st. (1969) and Ist. (1971)
Knight's Cross of the Order of Rebirth of Poland, 1973.
Doctorate "honoris causa" of the Silesian University of Technology, 1985---.

References:

1. Mazurkiewicz-Herzowa Ł.: Eugeniusz Romer. Wiedza Powszechna, Warsaw 1966.
2. Piotrowski J.: Edmund Romer - an outstanding engineer and professor. PAK 7/1974.
3. Frączek J.: Development of didactics in industrial metrology at the Silesian University of Technology. Materials of the "Seminar on the 80th Anniversary of the Birth of Prof. Edmund Romer." Pol. Sl., Gliwice May 22, 1984.
4. Romer E.: Geographer of three epochs - memories of his father. Czytelnik, Warsaw 1985.
5. Zagajewski T.: Professor Edmund Romer. Zesz. Nauk. Pol. Sl. No. 1090, Automation, Gliwice 1992.
6. Frączek J.: Memories of Professor Edmund Romer. PAK 9/2004 (on the occasion of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Gdansk University of Technology).