The Laboratory of Electrical Engineering was established in the year 1953 as an independent unit of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Its founder and first director Prof. Bedrich Heller (+1983) was a world-known specialist in the domain of surge phenomena in electric machines. In 1955 the Laboratory was enhanced and renamed the Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE). From the very beginning IEE has been engaged in basic theoretical and experimental research in the area of electrical power engineering, including the design and operation of electric machines, transformers, apparatus and networks. Modern physical and mathematical concepts along with ingenious model methods allowed IEE to reach an exceptional position in electrical power engineering research. As a matter of fact, there existed no other research organization in our country to tackle actual questions of this branch in such an extensive and comprehensive width.