The post-war years became a period of rapid development of electrical engineering and power engineering for Kharkiv. The establishment of electrical insulation departments in research institutes and factories necessitated the opening of a specialty “Electrical Insulation, Cable and Capacitor Engineering” at the Power Engineering Faculty in 1950.
The first graduation of students in the specialty “Electrical Insulation and Cable Engineering”
In 1964, a new specia
lty became the basis for the creation of the “Department Electrical Insulation and Cable Technology”.
The founder and first head of the EIСT department was associate professor Yurii Bagaliy (1915-1976), who had high professionalism, high erudition in the field of electrical insulation and was a professional lecturer. Under his leadership, a teaching staff was created consisting of Phd associate professors L. Lizunov and L. Illinska – specialists in cable technology; Z. Zelenska – specialist in measuring methods of electrical insulation; V. Totskyi and V. Bezsmertny – specialists in the field of electrical insulation of transformers, electrical of machines and materials; I. Obolonchyk, S. Staruseva and L. Shchebenyuk – specialists in the field of dielectric physics, capacitors, the theory of electrical insulation reliability, statistical methods of processing experimental data. An important stage in the life of the department was the introduction into the educational process of new developments in the field of creation and operation of communication cables, especially optical fiber communication lines.
In the following years, the department was headed by:
- 1976-1987 – Phd, assoc. prof. А. Hurin
- 1987-1992 – Phd, assoc. prof. S. Lomov
- 1992-2020 – DSc (Eng), prof. А. Hurin
- from 2020 – Phd, assoc. prof. О. Kessaiev
The development of scientific directions at the department can be divided into several stages. One of the first scientific research works, in which all teachers of the specialty participated, was the development of corrosion-resistant insulation for powerful turbo and hydro generators. This work was carried out from 1954 to 1958 under contracts with the JSC “Electrotyazhmash” (now it is the JSC “Ukrainian Energy Machines”). As a result, of its implementation, materials were proposed regarding the rational design of semiconductor coatings in the groove and front part of the windings, as well as methods of their control.
The period from 1976 to 1990 was marked by the development and implementation of electro-physical equipment with high-voltage capacitive accumulators for technological purposes. In response to the development of industrial complexes in the area of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) construction, equipment with surface seismic sources was developed and implemented in the Krasnoyarsk region for oil and gas exploration. Additionally, equipment was created for oil exploration and research on the continental shelves of the Black, Caspian, and Okhotsk seas. In collaboration with the Institute of Earth Physics (Moscow) and as part of the inter-university “Shelf” program, along with organizations from the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 
the department actively participated in the “Vibration Imaging of the Earth” program. The department conducted geophysical and environmental studies in cooperation with the “Yuzhmorgeo” Production Association (Gelendzhik), “Soyuzmorinzhgeologiya” (Riga), and the Tajik Institute of Seismology and Seismic Construction.
The department’s staff developed mobile installations for generating impact pulses with amplitudes of up to 100 kN, which allowed for simulating explosions from the Earth’s surface, as well as hydroacoustic pulse generators capable of penetrating more than 500 meters into seabed sediments. Among the developers and, importantly, the researchers were engineers, senior research fellows, and faculty members of the department: L. Shchebenyuk, Y. Mikhailus, V. Gladchenko, A.Vydrya, N. Povetkin, Y. Usichenko, A. Tkachenko, I. Panov, O. Panov, and O. Lytvynenko.
During this time, research and implementation work was conducted on epoxy compounds, aging processes of thin-layer insulation, and the impact of operating conditions on insulation lifespan. The study examined the effects of insulation impregnation technology, the determination of partial discharge levels, and the reliability of high-voltage device components under electrical, thermal, and impact stresses. The professor B. Naboka made a great contribution to the development of these works.
Since the 90s, the cable industry of Ukraine has steadily worked on the development of new types of products and modernizations of production. The department took an active part in the development, training of workers and introduction of new technologies for the production of power cables with cross-linked polyethylene insulation, fiber-optic cables and cables of structured networks at production organizations of Ukraine. A true training ground for both faculty and students was the development of new product types at PJSC “Yuzhkabel Plant”. In 1998-1999, a branch of the department was established at the plant, led by the plant’s General Director, professor V. Zolotaryov.
In 1999, the Technical Committee TC 131 ‘Electrical Insulation and Cable Technology’ was established at the department under the State Consumer Standards of Ukraine, including nearly 30 organizations, both manufacturers (Ukrainian cable plants) and consumers. The committee has been working on improving regulatory frameworks and creating national standards for cable technology in Ukraine, guiding cable manufacturers to achieve global quality benchmarks in design, production, and testing. The Technical Committee, in cooperation with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, initiated the creation of national standards for the fire resistance of cable products. This work resulted in the development of requirements for cable and wiring products used in nuclear power plants, subways, and other socially significant facilities; amendments were also made to the regulatory documentation of relevant ministries and agencies.
In 2019, professor A. Gurin, together with representatives from the Institute of Electrodynamics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute,” and PJSC “Yuzhkabel Plant”, was awarded the State Prize for the work “Electrotechnological Complex for the Production of Extra-High Voltage Cable Systems”.
Currently, the department employs three professors (two with doctoral degrees), two associate professors (PhD holders), and three senior lecturers (all PhD holders) to train specialists.
Over 3,000 electrical engineers, more than 20 PhD holders, and six Doctors of Science have been trained at the department. Highly qualified specialists have been prepared not only for the university but also for other scientific and industrial enterprises.