Auto industry / Science & invention
Aladar O. Simko
?–2008
· engine research engineer at Ford
Hungarian engineer at Ford who directed development of PROCO, a direct-injection stratified-charge engine, and filed dozens of engine patents over 35 years.
- Died
- Birth name
- Simkó Aladár
- Also known as
- Simkó Aladár · Aladar Otto Simko
- Detroit years
- 1960s–2008
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Hungarian automotive historians count Aladár Simkó among the notable Hungarians on Ford's engineering staff. His patents, filed for Ford from 1963 to 1998, trace a long career in engine research in the Dearborn area: combustion chambers and combustion processes in the 1960s, fuel-injection pumps in the 1970s, variable valve timing and variable compression ratio pistons in the 1990s. In the 1970s he directed development of Ford's PROCO, short for programmed combustion, an engine that sprayed gasoline straight into the cylinders instead of feeding it through a carburetor and ran on lean mixtures to save fuel and cut emissions. A 1978 technical paper on the PROCO engine reported about 20 percent better fuel economy than a 1977 baseline car. Direct injection of this kind is common in gasoline engines today. Simko lived in Dearborn Heights and later Dearborn, and he died in May 2008 at 80.
Highlights
- Ford engine patents filed from 1963 to 1998
- Directed development of Ford's PROCO direct-injection engine in the 1970s
- Patents on fuel injection, variable valve timing and variable compression
- Funeral held at the American Hungarian Reformed Church in Allen Park, 2008
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Related place · 2008
American Hungarian Reformed Church (Allen Park)
Metro Detroit's Hungarian Reformed congregation, where his funeral service was held in May 2008.