Born in Zalaegerszeg in 1965, László Palkovics is a Hungarian politician, mechanical engineer and university professor. He served as state secretary for Higher Education beginning in 2014 before taking up his current position as state secretary for Education.
Palkovics earned a diploma in mechanical engineering from Budapest University of Technology in 1989 and obtained his doctorate in 1991. He became a university professor in 2000, at the age of 35. In 2006, he became an external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ technical division, and seven years later, in 2013, Palkovics became a full member of the Academy.
Acquiring an expertise in vehicle dynamics and stability, controlled vehicle systems and intelligent vehicle and road systems, Palkovics’s research and teaching activities greatly contributed to the rise of a young generation of engineers, for which he was awarded in 2013, based on Minister Mihály Varga’s nomination, the Officer’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit.
During his professional career, Palkovics held numerous managerial positions in companies like Thyssen-Krupp Presta Hungary, Knorr-Bremse Group and Bosch Budapest. Meanwhile, he has worked as editor for the International Journal of Vehicle Design, Heavy Vehicles and the Journal of Automobile Engineering.
Taking the helm of a newly established Ministry for Innovation and Technology, László Palkovics will focus on Hungary’s progress in digitalization, technological development and innovation. Creating a separate ministry for this task sends a clear signal that Hungary’s competitiveness will figure as a top priority in the fourth Orbán Government.