Vidmar Day 2025: A tribute to a visionary and inspiration for the future

On 19 November 2025, we successfully held Vidmar Day, an event marking the 140th anniversary of the birth of Prof. Dr. Milan Vidmar, founder of the Milan Vidmar Electric Power Research Institute, which we are celebrating this year, in the hall of the Grand Hotel Union in Ljubljana.

The event honoured his exceptional legacy in the fields of electrical engineering, science, education, and chess, and reflected on the challenges of modern electrical engineering and directions for the future. More than 260 guests attended the formal programme held in a pleasant and festive atmosphere, followed by a reception and networking event.

The event was marked by the expert views and personal thoughts of Mr Mirko Bandelj, Vice President of the Slovenian Chess Federation, Prof. Dr. Marko Topič, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Ljubljana, and representative of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Academician Prof. Dr. Branko Stanovnik. The speakers highlighted Vidmar's exceptional knowledge, interdisciplinarity, and the lasting impact his work has had in Slovenia and internationally.

A special moment of the event was the posthumous awarding of the Vidmar plaque to former director Dr. Boris Žitnik, honouring his many years of professional work in the electrical industry, his active participation in numerous professional organisations in the field of electric power, and his successful long-term leadership of the Milan Vidmar Electric Power Research Institute.

The ceremony was concluded by the director of EIMV, Dr. Uroš Kerin, who emphasised in his inspiring speech that "from above, we must not only admire the past; we must dare to look to the future: a future that we should not only await, but create together."

Vidmar Day 2025 once again confirmed the enduring significance of Milan Vidmar's ideas and work and opened the way for new, ambitious steps into the future of the Institute.