Borys Paton

Borys Paton

Borys Paton

Death date

2020/08/19

Awards

IEEE Honorary Membership

Biography

With countless pioneering achievements in electrometallurgy and materials science, Borys Paton has developed electric welding technologies that are widely used for performing complex operations in space, under water, and in other critical environments including medicine/surgery. His fundamental research into the interaction of welding heat sources with molten metal laid the foundation for a new avenue of metallurgy called special electrometallurgy, which has made possible the casting of super clean special steels and alloys, nonferrous metals, and unique composites. This work has opened prospects for creating advanced structural and functional materials for the 21st Century. Paton was among the first engineers to develop welding processes for space technologies, which were used by cosmonauts first in orbital flights and then in open outer space. He helped develop several devices for welding in space, including the Vulcan (1969), Zarnitsa (1974), and the Isparitel (1979). Paton led the development of electroslag welding in the early 1950s. This progressive method of joining metals has made it possible to fundamentally change the production and installation of large machines and structures, allowing the welding parts of practically unlimited thickness to the assembly site without subsequent machining. Paton has also applied advances in electric welding to medicine, providing a new direction in surgery with tissue-preserving welding and processing of live tissues. Now widely used in practical surgery for over 15 years, this method allows for a quick and almost bloodless cutting and joining of biological tissues. Wound healing after such operations is much quicker compared to conventional surgery, the duration of surgical procedures is considerably shorter, there is less hemorrhaging, and the postoperative rehabilitation of patients is quicker. The results demonstrated by Paton have spurred further development in this important technology for healthcare.

Recipient of the Hobart Memorial Medal from the American Welding Society (1983), Paton is president and academician of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine and director of its E.O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Paton passed away on 19 August 2020.