Ali Emadi (IEEE S’98-M’00-SM’03) received the B.S. (1995) and M.S. (1997) degrees in electrical engineering with highest distinction from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. He also received his Ph.D. degree (2000) in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. He is currently the Harris Perlstein Endowed Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Director of the Electric Power and Power Electronics Center and Grainger Laboratories at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago, where he has established research and teaching facilities as well as courses in power electronics, motor drives, and vehicular power systems. In addition, Dr. Emadi is the Founder, President, and CTO of Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies, Inc. (HEVT) – a university spin-off company of IIT.

Dr. Emadi is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. He has been named a Chicago Matters Global Visionary in 2009. He was named the Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer of the Year 2003 (single international award) by virtue of his outstanding contributions to hybrid electric vehicle conversion by the Electrical Engineering Honor Society. He also received the 2005 Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award from the IEEE Power Electronics Society. In 2005, he was selected as the Best Professor of the Year by the students at IIT. Dr. Emadi is the recipient of the 2002 University Excellence in Teaching Award from IIT as well as the 2004 Sigma Xi/IIT Award for Excellence in University Research. He directed a team of students to design and build a novel motor drive, which won the First Place Overall Award of the 2003 IEEE/DOE/DOD International Future Energy Challenge for Motor Competition.

Dr. Emadi is the principal author/co-author of over 250 journal and conference papers as well as several books including Vehicular Electric Power Systems: Land, Sea, Air, and Space Vehicles (Marcel Dekker, 2003), Energy Efficient Electric Motors (Marcel Dekker, 2004), Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Active Filters (CRC Press, 2004), Modern Electric, Hybrid Electric, and Fuel Cell Vehicles: Fundamentals, Theory, and Design (CRC Press, 2004), and Integrated Power Electronic Converters and Digital Control (CRC Press, 2009). Dr. Emadi is also the editor of the Handbook of Automotive Power Electronics and Motor Drives (Marcel Dekker, 2005).

Dr. Emadi was the founding General Chair of the 1st IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC’05), which was co-located under his chairmanship with the SAE International Future Transportation Technology Conference. He is currently the Chair of the IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Steering Committee, Chair of the Technical Committee on Transportation Power Electronics of the IEEE Power Electronics Society, and Chair of the Power Electronics Technical Committee of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. He has also served as the Chair of the 2007 IEEE International Future Energy Challenge.

Dr. Emadi is the Editor (North America) of the International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles. He has been the Guest Editor-in-Chief of the Special Issue on Automotive Power Electronics and Motor Drives, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. He has also been the Guest Editor of the Special Section on Hybrid Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology and Guest Editor of the Special Section on Automotive Electronics and Electrical Drives, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. He has served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, and IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.

Education

• Ph.D. (highest distinction), Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, 2000.
• M.S. (highest distinction), Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 1997.
• B.S. (highest distinction), Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 1995.

Experience

• 2000-present: Harris Perlstein Endowed Chair Professor (2009-present); Full Professor (2006-present); Associate Professor (2005-2006); Assistant Professor (2000-2005), Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Illinois Institute of Technology.
• 2002-present: Director (2005-present); Assistant Director (2002-2005), Electric Power and Power Electronics Center, Illinois Institute of Technology.
• 2003-present: Founding Director and Chairman of the Board, Industry/Multi-university Consortium on Advanced Automotive Systems (IMCAAS).
• 2005-present: Founder, President, and Chief Technology Officer, Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies, Inc. (an IIT start-up company).
• 1998-2000: Research Assistant, Advanced Vehicle Systems Research Program, Electrical Engineering Department, Texas A&M University.
• 1996-1997: Lecturer and Power Electronics Lab Manager, Sharif University of Technology.
• 1995-1997: Founder, President, and CEO, Samin Pazhoohesh Engineering Co., Tehran, Iran.
• 1994-1995: Project Engineer, Electrical Power Research Center, Tehran, Iran.

Research and Teaching Interests

• Power electronics and motor drives
• Advanced electric drive vehicles: electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
• Transportation energy conversion and vehicular power and propulsion systems
• Renewable energy systems
• Energy and sustainability

Selected Honors and Awards

• 2009 Named a Chicago Matters Global Visionary, Chicago Public Radio, 2009.
• 2006 First Place Award for the Interprofessional Project titled “Hybrid Electric School Bus,” Illinois Institute of Technology, Dec. 2006.
• 2005 Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award (single award), IEEE Power Electronics Society, 2005.
• 2005 Best Professor of the Year Award (single award voted by students), IEEE Student Branch, Illinois Institute of Technology.
• 2005 IEEE Vehicular Technology Society’s Paper of the Year Award in Automotive Electronics (single international award).
• 2004 IEEE Vehicular Technology Society’s Paper of the Year Award in Automotive Electronics (single international award).
• 2004 Sigma Xi/IIT Award for Excellence in University Research (single award), Illinois Institute of Technology, 2004.
• 2003 Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer of the Year (single international award), Eta Kappa Nu Association, the Electrical Engineering Honor Society, 2003.
• 2003 First Place Overall Award, 2003 IEEE/DOE/DOD International Future Energy Challenge for Motor Competition.
• 2002 Overall Excellence in Research Award (single award), Office of the President, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2002.
• 2002 University Excellence in Teaching Award (single award), Illinois Institute of Technology.
• 1995 Ranked 1st in the entire B.S. Program of Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.