Ferenc Anisits

Who is Ferenc Anisits?

Ferenc Anisits Dr. is a Hungarian engineer, engine developer. He founded the BMW Diesel Development Center in Steyr, Austria.

He was born in Szolnok, Hungary. He graduated in 1962 from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. He got a job on 1964 in Szolnok at a local engineer office, few years later he moved to Germany and there he finished his PhD in Braunschweig in 1973 after learning German in only a few months. Besides cars he developed diesel engines for trucks and ships too. In October 1965 he's started to work for M.A.N and he developed ship engines and he made a lot of experiment with Rudolf Diesel's bench of experimental. At the latter from his office at the Lake of Constance he could see three countries at once. He was developing the diesel engines of FIAT there.

At the Zurich University they already tested the common rail engines even though they didn't know at the time that would be the injection system of the future. That was the time when one of his colleagues called him back first to Mannheim, then asked him to lead the diesel development of BMW in Steyr. The new 4-cylinder engine was as powerful as the older 6-cylinder, was less in size with better fuel mileage. That engine made the engineer world famous. Under his leadership, the electronically controlled diesel injection system was introduced in 1993 for which Dr. Anisits received the Ernst Blickle Innovation Award in 1995. This development laid the foundation to the modern direct injection diesel engine. In 1998 at the 24 Hours Nürburgring race the world saw the first victory of a diesel powered car. The 3-Series BMW outperformed its petrol driven rivals.