On the Waves of a Pulsating World: An Engineer’s Adventures in Innovation, Education and Politics: From Russia to the West (Springer Biographies)

Vladimir Babitsky was born before the Second World War and migrated West after Perestroika. The theory of vibro-impact systems that he developed helped create the world’s safest jackhammer and other record-breaking machines. The author has lived through a series of fascinating epochs: experiencing life under totalitarianism, witnessing the Soviet Union’s collapse, and then migrating to Europe as a specialist in his field. “On the Waves of a Pulsating World” is an animated and highly engaging story about the journey of an engineer; from childhood daydreams to creating new technologies, from East to West, and from concepts to realities. It is also the story of people who outshine authoritarianism.

Vladimir Babitsky is a researcher, inventor and professor. Born in the Soviet Union, he became the founder and head of the Vibration Engineering Laboratory at the Academy of Sciences in Moscow. After the country opened its borders, Dr Babitsky was invited to the Technical University of Munich as a visiting professor, and once the Soviet Union collapsed, he migrated to Germany and became technical consultant for the Liechtenstein-based multinational Hilti. He was recruited by the University of Loughborough (Great Britain) in 1995, where he became a Professor of Dynamics and received the title of Professor Emeritus in 2012. He is president of the International Centre on Vibro-Impact Systems, as well as editor of the book series Foundations of Engineering Mechanics, published by Springer. Dr Babitsky is the author of numerous scientific articles, books, innovations, original technical projects and patents, published in Russian and English. He predicted and discovered new phenomena, and developed effective engineering methods to excite and control nonlinear resonances. His discoveries offered new principles in vibration protection, which allowed for the development of high-tech systems and machines with record-breaking characteristics. One such machine, the world’s safest jackhammer, developed by JCB, was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2013.

Alex Gruzenberg was born in Moscow to a family of Bolshoi Theatre classical musicians. He grew up in Moscow, Seville and London, learning to speak Spanish and English in addition to his mother tongue. He was awarded the Languages Prize (Robinson College) and received a Masters in Film (Darwin College) from the University of Cambridge. His film blog was nominated for the Guardian Student Media Awards in the Critic of the Year category. Since graduating, Alex has worked in film, education and the art market. He is currently writing a novel about art.