Andrzej Kłos

Andrzej Kłos (1924–2018) was a distinguished Polish scientist and professor of technical sciences specialising in electrical power engineering. Born in Tenczynek (Kraków Voivodeship) on April 18, 1924, Kłos lived in Kraków until 1939, where he completed primary school. From 1940 to 1942, he worked as a labourer while attending a vocational school for electrical engineers. From 1942 until the end of the war in 1945, he worked at the Kraków Power Plant as a fitter and electrical technician, working on the construction and operation of the distribution network. During this same period, he clandestinely completed his secondary education and passed his final exams. After the war, Kłos began studying at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, simultaneously working as a vocational education teacher. From 1949, he worked in the national power industry, initially at the Zabrze Power Plant as an operations engineer. In 1950, he received his Master of Science in Engineering and moved to Warsaw. He worked at the State Power Dispatch Office (1950-1960) as a dispatcher and network section manager, helping to develop a nationwide power dispatch system. During this time, he began his doctoral research on "Economic Load Distribution in the Power System," completing his Ph.D. in Technical Sciences at the Silesian University of Technology by publishing an original method. He also spent a 10-month fellowship at the University of London, where he completed and published a paper on the theory of electrical networks and its application to power network modelling. In 1960, Kłos began lecturing in postgraduate courses at both the Silesian University of Technology and the Warsaw University of Technology. His career shifted toward research at the Institute of Power Engineering, where he headed a laboratory in the Systems Department (1960-1962), dealing with the operation and development planning of the national power system. He participated in the launch and implementation of the power industry's first computer, the "Ural." He then headed the Digital Technology Department (1962-1966). In 1970, he spent a year as a lecturer and researcher on solving network problems at the University of Manchester. He obtained his habilitation at the Silesian University of Technology in 1976 for his thesis on the theoretical foundations of electrical network state calculations. From 1970 to 1976, he served as Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Power Engineering, and from 1976 to 1981, he was the director of the Energy Information Technology Centre. Kłos was awarded the title of professor of technical sciences in 1982. At the Warsaw University of Technology (1982-1997), he served as Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Electrical Power Engineering (1983-1985), lecturing and disseminating doctoral theses. He was a member of the international organisations CIGRE and PSCC, and the national organisations SEP and PTETiS, serving as co-editor of the journal Electrical Power & Energy Systems. He published over 70 articles in Polish and international journals, co-authored three books, and published approximately 80 unpublished studies. In 1999, he was awarded the title of honorary member of PTETiS (No. 72). Following his death in 2018, he was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw (Section II A, row 7, grave 6).