The School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, also known as the School of Electrical Engineering, was established in 1993. Its predecessor, the Department of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, dates back to 1920 and is one of the oldest departments at the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) and among the first of its kind in China. Over the past century, the school has achieved numerous significant milestones in electrical engineering, including creating China's first rotating motor protector against lightning and the first stepping motor for meters and clocks. The discipline of electrical engineering offers doctoral degrees and hosts a post-doctoral research station. It is also a key discipline for national defense, with electrical machinery and electrical equipment designated as key secondary disciplines at the national level. Furthermore, the discipline of electrical engineering has been classified as a Class A discipline in the national assessment.

Currently, the School of Electrical Engineering has 203 staff members, including 161 faculty members, 89 of whom hold senior positions, and 99 doctoral supervisors. The school also boasts a number of prestigious accolades, such as 4 adjunct academicians, 1 IEEE Fellow, 3 national teaching masters, as well as the recognition of 10 national high-level talents and 21 national young talents.

The teaching foundation of the School of Electrical Engineering has a strong reputation, showcasing advantages in “renowned teachers, excellent courses, high-quality teaching materials, practical experience, and notable achievements”. Additionally, it focuses on talent cultivation, emphasizing “the development of strong engineering practical skills and innovative abilities”. The school offers nationally recognized first-class undergraduate programs in electrical engineering and automation, as well as architectural electrical engineering and smartification. In addition, it provides a new major in energy internet engineering and a minor in intelligent connected vehicle engineering. The school has a highly accomplished faculty, with three national teaching masters and six provincial teaching masters. The school boasts seven outstanding teaching teams, including a national-level team dedicated to Electrical Engineering and the Electrical and Electronics Series Courses, and another national-level team responsible for teaching Circuit courses that integrate social and political theories. The school also maintains a national-level demonstration center for laboratory-based teaching as well as a virtual research lab for the Ministry of Education’s Basic Courses Group in Electrician and Electronics. In addition, the school offers twelve nationally acclaimed undergraduate courses, one of which is well-regarded for its integration of social and political theories. The school has published 40 textbooks and monographs, with several being national-level textbooks planned during the 11th and 12th Five-Year Plans, a few of which have been recognized with the National Excellent Teaching Material Award, with copies being printed to reach millions of readers. The school’s students have achieved remarkable success, having earned a total of 718 prestigious national-level awards. Additionally, the school has hosted six highly competitive national-level competitions for advanced subjects, and has implemented seven teaching achievement projects at the national level. Presently, the school boasts an enrollment of over 2000 students.

The School of Electrical Engineering boasts a formidable research capacity and stands out for its research advantages. With a keen focus on national strategic needs and an aim to stay at the cutting edge of global science and technology, the school concentrates its efforts on various research fields, such as specialized motor systems, advanced electrical drive and control, reliability of electrical and electronic systems, new power systems and advanced energy storage, and forefront science and technology in electrical engineering. As a result, it has achieved a number of groundbreaking innovations at an international advanced level, earning three second-class national invention awards, three second-class national scientific and technological progress awards, and over 50 recognition awards in the form of provincial and ministerial-level scientific and technological achievements. The school leads the national key laboratory for space environment and material interaction, and actively participates in the national precision micromotor engineering research center, space environment ground simulation device (a major scientific project), national key laboratory for hydraulic power generation equipment, national key laboratory for space power technology, national key laboratory for complex system modeling and simulation, and national integrated innovation platform for energy storage technology. In addition, the school hosts 12 provincial and ministerial-level key laboratories, including the international advanced electric drive technology innovation intelligence base, national key laboratory for cold region new power systems, key laboratory of electrical drive and propulsion of the Ministry of Education, and key laboratory of reliability and consistency of electronic components of the Ministry of Education.