Transformer engineering is one of the earliest sciences within the field of electric power engineering, and power is the earliest discipline within the field of electrical engineering. To some, this means that transformer technology is a fully mature and staid industry, with little opportunity for innovation or ingenuity by those practicing in the field.

Of course, we in the industry find that premise to be erroneous. One need only scan the technical literature to recognize that leading-edge suppliers, users, and academics involved with power transformers are continually reporting novelties and advancements that would have been totally insensible to engineers of even the recent past. I contend that there are three basic levels of understanding, any of which may be appropriate for persons engaged with transformers in the electric power industry. Depending on dayto-day involvement, the individual’s posture in the field can be described as:

• Curious — those with only peripheral involvement with transformers, or a nonprofessional lacking relevant academic background or any particular need to delve into the intricacies of the science
• Professional — an engineer or senior-level technical person who has made a career around electric power transformers, probably including other heavy electric-power apparatus and the associated power-system transmission and distribution operations
• Expert — those highly trained in the field (either practically or analytically) to the extent that they are recognized in the industry as experts. These are the people who are studying and publishing the innovations that continue to prove that the field is nowhere near reaching a technological culmination.