From the very beginning, the Faculty of Electronic Engineering has been dedicated to its mission based on successful scientific and research results and their implementation. During the years, the Faculty has developed the existing and introduced new education modules that educate students for present-day and future technical and technological accomplishments. At the same time, it has developed its own human and material resources. Following its adopted principles, the Department of Power Engineering was founded in September 1987. The aim of this department was to organize the tuition for Industrial Power Engineering module since it is an organizational unit of pedagogic and scientific activity. The beginning of the Department of Power Engineering work is February 1988. The basis of the department has been set by Professor Predrag Rančić, the first Head of the Department of Power Engineering. At the beginning, significant contributions to power engineering development have been given by the professors from other faculties from the country (FRY at that time): Prof. Dr. Stanimir Jovanovski and Prof. Dr. Arsen Arsenov, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Skopje, Prof. Dr. Gojko Muždeka, Prof. Dr. Nikola Rajaković, Prof. Dr. Milenko Đurić, Prof. Dr. Borislav Jeftenić, Prof. Dr. Dragan Petrović, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Belgrade, and Prof. Dr. Đukan Vukić.

 

These top experts in the field of power engineering provided high quality tuition as well as support for promotion of young teaching and scientific stuff. In cooperation with the mentioned professors and personal engagement of the members of the Department and professors of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering the laboratories from certain scientific areas were founded. In 1990, laboratory practice work of Electrical Installations and Electric Machines was performed, and in next years practice work was performed in the areas of other subjects concerning electrical power engineering. The following laboratories are part of the Department of Power Engineering: Laboratory for Electrical Installations and Illumination, Laboratory for Electric Machines and Drives, Laboratory for Electrical Power Plants and Protection Technique, and Laboratory for Electric Drives and Traction, while Laboratory for Electric Power Networks is being established at the moment.
In the second decade of the Department of Power Engineering existence, new stuff started to work, and several of them got their MSc and PhD titles. Besides, they have published a significant number of papers in international and national journals and in proceedings of international and national conferences, and took part in a large number of projects realized in cooperation with companies. It means that the stuff was active both in scientific and expertise field.

At the same time, significant progress was achieved in the area of updating laboratories and the equipment. Special attention has been paid to students and their education. Professional attitude to tuition activities, working methodology and permanent updating of courses, have dominantly influenced the popularization of electric power engineering module and the continuous increase of the number of students that are interested in this scientific area. Graduated students have contributed to these, too. The knowledge they got significantly influenced their advancement in professional career.

In the previous period pedagogic plans and programs were changed and adapted to the arisen economic needs and scientific accomplishments. Till 2004 scientific area of electric power engineering was taught through the module Industrial Electric Power Engineering. With the change of pedagogic plans and programs in 2004 the name of the module was changed into Electric Power Engineering. With the accreditation of the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Niš, in 2008, this scientific area is studied on all studying levels. Electric Power Engineering is studied at the study program of Bachelor Studies of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science through the module Electric Power Engineering, then through the study program Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies at Professional Studies within the module Industrial Electric Power Engineering; within the Master Studies as the module Electric Power Engineering, and within Doctoral studies as part of the study program Electric Engineering and Computer Science, named Electric Power Engineering module.

The members of the Department of Electric Power Engineering have published altogether 586 scientific papers, i.e. 58 papers in international journals, 82 papers in national journals, 180 in proceedings of international conferences and 266 in proceedings of national conferences. By now, 4 monographs have been published, 7 textbooks, 9 supplementary textbooks, 18 technical solutions, 3 patents have been submitted, 5 recognitions and 4 awards have been received. The members of the Department took part in 65 scientific and research projects, while 3 are active at the moment. Intensive cooperation with companies is evident through the realization of 71 projects.

The department of Electric Power Engineering has contributed to the development of electric power engineering in the region by realization of numerous scientific and vocational projects. Themes of the projects are very different, from concrete measurements and specific studies, energy efficiency, design, to the capital new contributions in the area of electric power systems, as well as in the area of electric machines and drives. The developing trend of contemporary electric power engineering force engineers to have wide systematic knowledge and therefore to be able to solve practical engineering problems, to have new business opportunities, as well as to use technological progress in certain fields through their work. The vision of further development of the Department of Electric Power Engineering is tightly connected with education of the future electric power engineers, the demand for who has significantly increased in the last few years. The improvement of tuition processes implies updating education contents, visiting capital electric power plants, updating existing laboratories with new equipment, active participation of students in the work of laboratories, foundation of new laboratories. Activities connected with the foundation of the laboratory for electric power networks are at the final stage and it is expected that the students will have the chance to have practical part of the tuition in the up to date equipped laboratory. Besides, the stuff of the Department has the task to permanently develop through getting higher scientific titles and through the initialization of the cooperation with foreign universities through joint projects and students’ exchange.