SEMT Pielstick

SEMT Pielstick was a French company that designed and built large diesel engines. Its full name was Société d’Etudes des Machines Thermiques (Company of Thermal Machines Studies).

Founded in 1948, SEMT was bought by MAN Diesel in 2006

During its existence as an independent company, SEMT manufactured engines for locomotives, naval vessels, power plants, and merchant ships. Its customers included France, the United States, Russia, India, and other countries.

SEMT. was created in 1946 by France's ministry for industrial production by combining five national companies:

The aim of the new company was to develop new engines in France that could be licensed internationally. In 1948, the first licenses were supplied to licensed engine building companies worldwide.

In 1951, after its relocation at La Courneuve, the Société Générale de Constructions Mécaniques was equipped with the first test beds. The equipment, which enabled the company to speed up the development of a new range of engines, was later transferred to Saint-Denis and thesubsequently to Saint-Nazaire.

In 1976, Alsthom-Atlantique was the flagship of French industry. The conglomerate became the majority, which also owns the Saint-Nazaire mechanical facility and a factory at Jouet-sur-l’Aubois, was renamed S.E.M.T. Pielstick after the company's founder, Gustav Pielstick.

In 2006, MAN purchased the shares belonging to MTU to become the sole shareholder of SEMT. Then, in 2010, the diesel engine and turbo machinery activities were merged. The S.E.M.T. branding remains, and is protected, but no longer appears as a company name.