Khaimovich, Yefrem Moiseyevich (April 1, 1900, village of Nekhaivka, Sosnytskyi district, Chernihiv region – July 16, 1980, Kyiv) – renowned scientist and mechanical engineer, dean of the Mechanical Engineering Faculty of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (1938–1941), head of the Department of Machine Tools (1941–1976). Y.M. Haimovich was born on April 1, 1900, in Chernihiv Oblast into a family of civil servants. From 1905, the family lived in Zhytomyr. In 1919, Yefrem graduated from the Zhytomyr Commercial School and worked as a teacher.
In 1922, he was sent to study at the KPI, which he graduated from in 1926 with a degree in Metal-Cutting Machine Tools. He was appointed to a shipbuilding plant in Mykolaiv, where he worked until December 1931 and simultaneously taught at the Mykolaiv Shipbuilding Institute. After defending his thesis “Research on Edge Planing Machines,” he was transferred to the position of scientific director of the metal cutting sector at UkrNDImash, where he worked until 1935. At the same time, he taught at the Kyiv Industrial Institute.
A.N. Rabinovich was the organizer and first head of the machine tool department at KPI, and one of the first teachers was Y.M. Khaimovich. He worked on problems of the theory and design of hydraulic drive mechanisms and hydraulic automation of machine tools, as well as on the creation of hydraulic copying devices for processing complex shapes. In 1936, his book “Hydraulic Drives in Machine Tools” was published, and in 1937, “Carousel Machine Tools, Their Research and Calculation.”
In 1939, Y.M. Haimovich defended his doctoral dissertation on hydraulic tracking systems for metal-cutting machine tools. From 1938 to 1941, he worked as dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. During the Great Patriotic War, he and his department were evacuated to the Central Asian Industrial Institute (Tashkent). At that time, E. M. Haimovich became head of the Department of Machine Tools. After returning to Kyiv in August 1944, KPI scientists did a great deal of work to restore the material and technical base of the institute and assist industry in the development of new technical equipment.
In 1947, Y.M. Haimovich published the book “Hydraulic Drives of Machine Tools,” in 1950 – “Hydraulic Automation of Copying Machine Tools,” and in 1953 “Hydraulic Drives and Hydraulic Automation of Machine Tools,” which has been reprinted several times abroad. The scientist devoted a significant part of his life to hydropneumatic automation, understanding its importance not only for metal-cutting machines, but also for other sectors of the national economy. In 1965, he initiated the creation of the Department of Hydropneumatic Automation at KPI, which was headed by his student, Prof. O.F. Domrachov.
Y.M.Khaimovich trained more than 30 graduate students and applicants from many countries around the world. His students were successful in their scientific work, many of them founded their own scientific schools and defended their doctoral dissertations. He had over 100 published works, including over 20 books published in the USSR and abroad. Y.M.Khaimovich headed the department until 1976, then worked as a consulting professor.
For his achievements in scientific and pedagogical activities, Y.M. Haimovich was awarded the Order of Honor and the Medal for Labor Valor.
Y.M. Haimovich died on July 16, 1980.