The 27th “High-Voltage and Power Systems Engineering” Colloquium took place from July 4 to 6, 2019. As has become tradition, more than 30 doctoral students from the Technical Universities of Darmstadt, Dresden, Ilmenau, Munich, and the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences to discuss their current research papers. This year’s colloquium was hosted and organized by the Chair of High-Voltage and High-Current Engineering at the Technical University of Dresden.

In a total of 19 presentations spread across four sessions, the participants presented their research findings in the field of power engineering. The focus was primarily on future developments in high-voltage direct-current transmission, gas-insulated systems, electrical insulating materials, and contact and switching behavior. The High-Voltage Engineering Department at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences participated with a total of five presentations by Harald Schmalfuß, Jun Ting Loh, Heike Herzig, Rüdiger Cervinka, and Stefan Kühnel. The subsequent discussion sessions provided a lively forum for scientific dialogue and the exchange of experiences.

In addition to the many interesting presentations, the agenda included a laboratory tour and, as a highlight, a visit to the decommissioned Freiberg silver mine. After arriving by bus, the group descended approximately 150 meters by elevator. During a 1.5-hour tour, they marveled at 19th- and 20th-century tunnels that had been driven into the rock through the remarkable achievements of the miners. We also had the opportunity to tour several underground laboratories at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg and admire the machinery and electrical systems used for ore mining.

We would like to extend special thanks to Professor Großmann and the team from TU Dresden for the successful event, and we are already looking forward to the 28th Colloquium on High-Voltage and Power Systems Technology in 2020 in Darmstadt.