A brief history and research progress on solid engineering dielectrics in China

In the 1950s, coupled with economic growth in China, there was an ever increasing demand for electric power, which led to the rapid growth of electrical equipment manufacturing and the need for suitably educated engineers. In 1953 the discipline of Electrical Insulation and Cables was initially established at Jiaotong University, and the course Dielectric Physics was its major theoretical cornerstone. Today, the course is still one of the main courses for this discipline. Professor Chen Jidan was the founder of this discipline, and he was responsible for this course. He studied at Manchester University in the United Kingdom in 1931, and his dissertation for his master's degree dealt with the dielectric loss of castor oil at high frequency.