Last Thursday, 20 February 2025, Balázs Magyar gave his inaugural lecture as part of the Mechanical Engineering Forum. Among the invited guests were colleagues and former employees. Prof. Magyar was particularly pleased that his former supervisor and friend Dr Péter Horák had travelled from Hungary to attend this important event. After some introductory words, the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Mirko Schaper gave him the floor. In his lecture entitled "No sustainable product without design", Prof. Magyar addressed sustainability in the context of the product life cycle. He emphasized that the foundation for a sustainable product is laid in the early stages of product design and that sustainability is an interdisciplinary topic in which the most diverse specialist areas and specialist groups must work together.
Another point in his presentation was that the energy efficiency of a product is determined and influenced in the early stages of product design as well. For example, a product that may be more complex to manufacture and has a poorer energy balance compared to a product that is easier to manufacture may have a better energy and environmental balance over its entire life cycle.
He also discussed repair and demountability. He cited the ubiquitous smartphone as an example. In the past, smartphones could be repaired and dismantled so that the battery or even the display could be replaced. This is no longer the case. He cited mobile phones made by Fairphone brand as a counter-example.
This brand produces mobile phones that are manufactured using sustainable resources and can be repaired in the interests of sustainability. However, only a few of those present were familiar with this brand. Prof. Magyar used this example to illustrate that sustainability not only has a technical component, but also a social and cultural one.
Following his presentation, the evening was rounded off with snacks and drinks.
