In the academic year 2018/2019, the Technical University of Košice commemorated the personality of Aurel Stodola on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of his birth by “The Year of Aurel Stodola“. The highlight of the celebrations was the gala event of Aurel Stodola, which took place on Tuesday, 7 May 2019 at 11am in Aula Maxima TUKE.

As a part of the gala event, the life and work of this great scientist was presented. One of the speakers was prof. Ing. Stanislav Kmeť, CSc., the Rector of the Technical University of Košice, who also read several unpublished lines of correspondence written by Aurel Stodola to his parents during his studies.

Ing. Miroslav Šuvada, a native of Slovakia, who has been living in Switzerland long-term, described A. Stodola´s activities at the ETH Zürich, a renowned Swiss university. Swiss folk culture and music was presented by the ensemble Alphorngruppe Kaisten. After their performance, His Excellency Alexander Hoffet, the Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation in Slovakia gave a short speech.

During the closing part, the Director General of the Slovak Technical Museum handed out the Aurel Stodola Award for dissemination of personal, scientific and moral legacy of Aurel Stodola to future generations to four academic and cultural institutions:

• Technical University of Košice
• ETH Zürich
• Museum of Janko Kráľ in Liptovský Mikuláš (in the birthplace of the scientist)
• Association of Slovaks in Switzerland.

The gala event was ended by the performance of the Musica Iuvenalis String Orchestra.

At 3pm, a commemorative meeting took place at the memorial plaque of Aurel Stodola placed on the building of the Slovak Technical Museum in Košice. It was followed by a tour of historical exposition of life and work of the eminent scientist.