HASWELL, John
* 20. 3. 1812, Lancefield near Glasgow, United Kingdom
† 8. 6. 1897, Vienna, Austria
Mechanical engineer
H. was born in an old Scottish family. At first he attended primary school in Glasgow and later studied mechanical engineering at the Anderson's University. In 1834 he began to work as a volunteer and already a year later became a mechanical designer in the shipbuilding office of William Fairbairn & Co. in Manchester.
In 1837 he drew up plans for the repair shop of the Wien-Raaber railway for Fairbairn and was later entrusted with carrying them out. In June 1838 he arrived to Vienna. Under his management, a company was established in 1840 and elevated into in The Royal Imperial factory machinery in 1841, gaining the status of internationally recognized factory for the manufacture of locomotives and carriages.
H. proved to be an important designer of locomotives and in 1850 he participated in the Semmering competition with the locomotive Vidobona.
Among many of his machine-technical innovations, the hydraulic forging press made in 1860/61 has to be singled out. This machine was first to enable the forging of heavy machine components in dies, which opened many new opportunities in mechanical engineering. The great hydraulic forging press, constructed by H. in 1862 was one of the sensations at the world exhibition in London. The model from the early 1870's is today located at the Vienna Museum of Technology.
