POWER ELECTRONICS AND ENERGY RESEARCH GROUP (PEER)
FACULTY MEMBERS
Dr. Pragasen Pillay
Professor
Dr. Pragasen Pillay
Research Interests:
Biography:
Dr. Pillay received the Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa, in 1981 and 1983, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA, in 1987. From 1988 to 1990 he was with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. From 1990 to 1995, he was with the University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA. From 1995 to 2007, he was with Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, USA, where he held the Jean Newell Distinguished Professorship in Engineering. From January 1999 to August 2016 he was an adjunct Prof at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. In 2017, Dr. Pillay was appointed as Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town, S.A.
Dr. Pillay is a member of the IEEE Power Engineering, IEEE Industry Applications, IEEE Industrial Electronics, and IEEE Power Electronics Societies. He is a member of the Electric Machines Committee and the Past Chairman of the Industrial Drives Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS), the Past Chairman of the Induction Machinery Subcommittee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society, and the Past Chairman of the Awards Committee of the IAS Industrial Power Conversion Department. He has organized and taught short courses in electric drives at IAS Annual Meetings as well as to the Government of South Africa. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, U.K., and a Chartered Electrical Engineer in the U.K. He is also a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario.
Dr. Pillay is the recipient of the Order of Mapungubwe from the President of South Africa in 2008 for contributions to South Africa in the area of energy conversion. He is also the recipient of the 2015 IEEE IAS Outstanding Achievement Award. He was also a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE Industry Applications Society in 2012/2013. In 2015 he was the General co-Chair of the Energy Conversion Conference and Exposition, which is the largest and most important conference in his area of electric machines.
Professor Pillay has published more than 160 articles in refereed journals and around 280 technical papers in major conferences and meetings in North America and other international conferences.
Professor Pillay’s Research Group Members
Dr. Luiz A. C. Lopes
Professor
Dr. Chunyan Lai
Associate Professor
Solihah Sharief Shiekh
Solihah Sharief Shiekh
Research Interests:
Power Electronic Converters, Advanced Control Strategies, Electric Vehicles
Biography:
Solihah Sharief Shiekh received her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Kashmir, India in 2020, and her master’s degree from the National Institute of Technology Srinagar, India in 2022. Solihah also received her Ph.D. degree from the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada in 2026. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the same department under the supervision of Prof. Pragasen Pillay.
Ahmad Darabi
Ahmad Darabi
Research Interests:
Electric vehicle, Power Electronics
Biography:
Ahmad graduated from the BSc program in Electronic engineering from Razi University Kermanshah, Iran. He received the MSc degree in power system protection from Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT), Tehran, Iran. Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. program at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Paul Inuwa Adamu
Paul Inuwa Adamu
Research Interests:
Electrical Drives, Electric Vehicles (EVs), High Power Converters, and Renewable Energy Systems
Biography:
Paul Inuwa Adamu earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, in 2009, and a Master of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Bradford, UK, in 2016. From June 2011 to December 2019, he was a lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Federal Polytechnic in Damaturu, Nigeria. He also served as a lecturer at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in Kaduna, Nigeria, from January 2020 to August 2022. He is currently a research assistant at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he is pursuing a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Amir Kermanizadeh
Amir Kermanizadeh
Research Interests:
Electrical Machines, Electrical Vehicles, Ultra High-Speed Electrical Motors and Ultra High-Frequency Motor Drives
Biography:
Amir Kermanizadeh received his bachelor's degree in power Electrical engineering from Shahre-Rey branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. He worked on starting torque optimization of a single-phase induction motor for industrial applications as his final project. Also, He received his master's degree from Science and Research branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, where he presented a new topology for cage rotor structure of an induction motor in order to reduce the stator harmonic currents under supervision of professor Hamid Lesani.
He during and after his master's degree worked as a R&D manager in AryaMotors company, Eyvanekey, Iran. During his career he provide several accomplishments for the company, such as: design and implementation of a magnetic brake, a dynamometer interface, a 0-300 V 50A Step down converter, a ultra high frequency v/f induction motor drive, in-process measuring system for grinding machines, Broken bar detection equipment, overhauling the control system of high pressure die casting machines (HPDC) and jig grinding machines.
Amir Kermanizadeh is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Hani Eltouni
Hani Eltouni
Research Interests:
Design and Analysis of Electrical Machines
Biography:
Hani received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical power and machines engineering from the Faculty of Engineering, Tanta University, Egypt, in 2016 and 2022, respectively. He is currently pursuing a PhD degree in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, under the supervision of Prof. Pragasen Pillay.
Odo Kenneth Chinonso
Odo Kenneth Chinonso
Research Interests:
Electrical Machines and Drives
Biography:
Kenneth Chinonso Odo obtained a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Master of Engineering in Power Electronics Devices and New Energy Systems both from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 2017 and 2022 respectively. From April 2019 to December 2023, he worked as a Lecturer in the department of Electrical Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is currently working for his PhD in department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia University, QC, Canada.
Hyacinthe Tchakounte
Dr. Hyacinthe Tchakounte
Research Interests:
Modeling, analysis, design and control of Photovoltaic systems, Vehicle Integrated Photovoltaic, Solar trackers, Power Electronics, Real time simulations, Renewable Energy systems, Electromechanical systems, mechanics and materials.
Biography:
Hyacinthe was born and raised in Cameroon. He is currently pursuing a PhD at Concordia University in the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics in the field of mechanics and materials at the University of Yaounde, Cameroon. He worked at PkFokam Institute of Excellence in the Mechanical Engineering Technology department as a teaching and laboratory assistant. Prior to his PhD program at Concordia University, he worked there as a research assistant in the Power Electronics and Energy Research (PEER) group Laboratory. He is actually working in AI based controlled hybrid Photovoltaic-Wind mobile systems to be integrated in Electric vehicle in cold climates. To date he has 25 publications in scientific journals and several other conference papers cited 280 times already (source: google scholar). A sportsman who followed in his father’s footsteps in soccer, he continues to coach people around this prestigious sport. He also teaches guitar and theater in his spare time.
Aurean Belo Guimaraes
Aurean Belo Guimaraes Junior
Research Interests:
Power Electronics, DC-DC Converters, DC-AC Converters, and Renewable Energy Systems.
Biography:
Aurean received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Amazonas State University, Manaus, Brazil, and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, under the supervision of Prof. Luiz Lopes. His research focuses on power electronics.
Amir Abbas Aghajani
Amir Abbas Aghajani
Research Interests:
Power electronics, DC-DC converters, DC-AC converters, multi-level inverters, and Nano-MicroGrid systems.
Biography:
Amir Abbas Aghajani received the B.Sc. degree from Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Iran, in 2018, and the M.Sc. degree from Shahid Rajaee University (SRU), Tehran, Iran, in 2022, both in electrical engineering. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada. He has expertise in designing and fabricating power electronic converters, including PCB layout, DSP programming (F28379, F28335), and power converter implementation. He serves as a reviewer for IEEE Transactions on power electronics and IET power electronics.
Syed Najafi
Syed Najafi
Research Interests:
Power Electronics, Vehicle Electrification
Biography:
Syed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Osmania University, India, and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Akron, USA. With five years of industry experience as an Electrification Engineer in the automotive sector, Syed is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Mahad Mohamud Awad
Mahad Mohamud Awad
Research Interests:
Renewable Energy Microgrids, Electric Vehicle Charging & V2X Integration, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
Biography:
Mahad received the B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Power Systems) from the International University of Africa, Sudan, in 2016, and the M.Tech. degree in Energy Science and Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT Hyderabad), India, in 2024. He has professional experience in hybrid mini-grid power systems and medium-low voltage distribution networks. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, under the supervision of Prof. Pragasen Pillay.
Jia Fu
Jia Fu
Research Interests:
Power Electronic Converters, Electric Vehicles
Biography:
Jia Fu received her bachelor's degree in Electronic Science and Technology from Chang'an University, China and her master's degree in Business Administration from Jilin University, China. She is currently pursuing another Master of Applied Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Chunyan Lai.
Shafay Ishtiaq
Shafay Ishtiaq
Research Interests:
Power Electronic Converters, Renewable Energy Systems
Biography:
Shafay Ishtiaq received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, Pakistan. He worked as an Electrical Engineer for five years at Toyota Indus Motor Company and Exide Battery Limited in Karachi, Pakistan. He is pursuing his M.A.Sc. degree in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Concordia University, Canada, under the supervision of Dr. Luiz A.C. Lopes.
Fadi Omar Rifai
Fadi Omar Rifai
Research Interests:
Power Electronics, Embedded systems
Biography:
Fadi Omar El Rifai received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the American University of Beirut. He worked as an electrical engineer for two years at Siemens in Doha, Qatar. He is pursuing his M.Sc. degree in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Concordia University, Canada, under the supervision of Dr. Pragasen Pillay.
Maulin Mehta
Maulin Mehta
Research Interests:
Power Electronics, Electric Machine Drives, Renewable Energy Systems
Biography:
Maulin Mehta received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU), Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. He is currently pursuing his MASc degree in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, under the supervision of Dr. Pragasen Pillay.
- Dr. Solihah Sharief Sheikh
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