🚂 The Railway’s Journey from Steam to Hydrogen: The ETT Department Celebrates KhPI’s Anniversary
KHARKIV – October 2025. The National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” (NTU “KhPI”) became the epicenter of celebrations dedicated to its 140th anniversary. All institutes and departments of the university took part in the festivities. A vivid example was the event organized on October 25 by the Educational and Scientific Institute of Power Engineering, Electronics and Electromechanics (E-Institute). And within the framework of Autumn Holidays with Polytech, on October 29, the Department of Electric Transport and Diesel Locomotive Engineering (ETT) presented its professional history and innovative developments.
🎤 A History That Began with Steam Locomotives
The presentation by the ETT Department, “The Railway’s Journey from Steam to Hydrogen”, offered both a retrospective and a vision of the future of railway transport. Its origins within the university date back to 1892, when the Kharkiv Technological Institute launched the training of steam-locomotive engineers.
The founder of this field is considered to be Professor Petro Matviiovych Mukhachov, who in 1892 began teaching a 5th-year course titled “Theory and Design of Steam Locomotives.” In a letter to the national education authorities, the institute’s director Viktor Lvovych Kyrpychov noted that “the majority of graduates of the Mechanical Department go on to work on the railways, and the demand, given the current situation, will remain high for a long time.” This decision laid a solid foundation for the future department.
Further development of the department is associated with Professor Vasyl Vasylovych Monich, a student of P. M. Mukhachov. In July 1920, his personal file for the first time officially mentioned the “Department of Steam Locomotive Engineering.”
Thus, the ETT Department has passed through three major stages of development:
- Steam Locomotive Engineering (1892–1955)
- Diesel Locomotive Engineering (1955–1998)
- Modern Stage (since 1998) — covering electric transport and hydrogen technologies.
👨🏫 Today: Science and Education
The modern ETT Department is a strong team of professors and associate professors who combine teaching with advanced scientific research.
The department’s research interests include such cutting-edge fields as:
- Development of a gearless traction drive for high-speed electric rolling stock
- Creation of energy-storage systems for suburban electric trains
- Synthesis of a combined tilting-body system for high-speed trains
- Development of an energy-efficient drive based on a permanent-magnet synchronous motor
The ETT Department’s presentation during the Autumn Holidays with Polytech clearly demonstrated that the legacy of steam-locomotive engineering is not a museum relic. Instead, it has become the foundation for future innovations — hydrogen energy, high-speed trains, and green transport technologies. This journey from steam to hydrogen is the best evidence that Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute continues to train the engineers of the future.
Link to the presentation: https://surl.li/umiijc
