Dr. Ali Emadi – Faculty of Engineering
Ali Emadi

Dr. Ali Emadi

Expertise

Transportation Electrification; Electrified Vehicles, Autonomous-Capable Vehicles, Electric and Hybrid Powertrains, Power Electronics and Electric Motor Drives, Electric Machines and Energy Conversion Systems, Renewable and Efficient Energy Systems, Energy and Sustainability

Current status

  • Accepting graduate students

  • Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate

    Mechanical Engineering

  • Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate

    Electrical & Computer Engineering

  • Canada Research Chair in Transportation Electrification and Smart Mobility and NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Electrified Powertrains

    Mechanical Engineering

  • Canada Research Chair in Transportation Electrification and Smart Mobility and NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Electrified Powertrains

    Electrical & Computer Engineering

Overview

Specific Research Activities

Power electronics and electric motor drives; electric machines and electro-mechanical energy conversion systems; electric and hybrid powertrains; advanced electric drive vehicles including electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles; transportation energy conversion and vehicular power and propulsion systems; transportation electrification; smart mobility; autonomous-capable vehicles; smart grid and micro-grids; renewable and efficient energy systems; energy and sustainability.

  • Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate
  • Canada Research Chair in Transporatation Electrification and Smart Mobility
  • NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Electrified Powertrains

Did you know?

  • Dr. Emadi is the lead faculty advisor for the McMaster Engineering EcoCAR Mobility Challenge student team
  • 60 Ph.D. students have graduated under the supervision/co-supervision of Dr. Emadi since 2004 when his first Ph.D. student graduated
  • 80 Master’s students have graduated under the supervision/co-supervision of Dr. Emadi since 2002 when his first master’s student graduated
  • 100 post-docs and visiting scholars have worked with Dr. Emadi since 2002
  • About 15% of Dr. Emadi’s trained Ph.D. students and 27% of his former post-docs and visiting scholars are in academia with tenured/tenure-track faculty positions in top universities around the world
  • Majority of Dr. Emadi’s trained graduate students are in industry in companies such as Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, FCA), General Motors, Ford, Tesla, Eaton, BorgWarner, Enedym, Menlolab, Canoo, JJE, Rivian, Lucid Motors, SF Motors, Virgin Hyperloop, AVL, Vitesco, Nidec, Mercedes-Benz, Magna, LG Electronics, Floserve, SunTech Drive, Nio, Valeo, Audi, Clearpath Robotics, Wright Electric, Litens Automotive, Exro, Taiga Motors, Atieva, Delphi, Hanon Systems, MathWorks, MDA, Electro-Motive Diesel, Caterpillar, SunPower, Phillips, Ricardo, United Technologies, Bombardier, TI, NXP, GE, Schneider Electric, Safran, Rockwell, Enphase Energy, Siemens, GaN Systems, and several start-up companies
  • Dr. Emadi has authored/co-authored over 650 journal and conference papers since 2000
  • Dr. Emadi has 70 patents and patents pending
  • Dr. Emadi’s research has benefited from over $150M of funding over the past 15 years
  • Dr. Emadi has founded four university spin-off companies; he is the CEO of Enedym Inc. and Menlolab Inc.
  • Dr. Emadi was the inaugural General Chair of the IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC) in 2005
  • Dr. Emadi was the founding General Chair of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC) in 2012
  • Dr. Emadi was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification from 2014 to 2020
  • Dr. Emadi was the Chair of the IEEE International Future Energy Challenge in 2007

Ali Emadi is the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) Laureate and a Professor in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Mechanical Engineering (ME) at McMaster University. He is also the holder of the NSERC/FCA Industrial Research Chair in Electrified Powertrains and Tier I Canada Research Chair in Transportation Electrification and Smart Mobility. The CERC appointment received $10 million in federal funding over 2011-2018 in addition to significant support from the university. Dr. Emadi’s appointment also includes a new electrified vehicle research facility that is part of the new 80,000 square-foot McMaster Automotive Resource Center (MARC) at McMaster Innovation Park. He served as the Director of the McMaster Institute for Automotive Research and Technology (MacAUTO) from 2011-2015. Dr. Emadi is the Founder, President, and CEO of Enedym Inc. and MenloLab Inc. – two university spin-off companies of McMaster University. Before joining McMaster University, Dr. Emadi was the Harris Perlstein Endowed Chair Professor of Engineering and Director of the Electric Power and Power Electronics Center and Grainger Laboratories at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois, USA, where he established research and teaching facilities as well as courses in power electronics, motor drives, and vehicular power systems. He was the Founder, Chairman, and President of Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies, Inc. (HEVT) – a university spin-off company of Illinois Tech.

Dr. Emadi has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. He was the advisor for the Formula Hybrid Teams at Illinois Tech and McMaster University, which won the GM Best Engineered Hybrid System Award at the 2010, 2013, and 2015 competitions. Currently, he is the lead faculty advisor for the McMaster Engineering EcoCAR Mobility Challenge. Dr. Emadi is the principal author/coauthor of over 550 journal and conference papers as well as several books including Vehicular Electric Power Systems (2003), Energy Efficient Electric Motors (2004), Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Active Filters (2004), Modern Electric, Hybrid Electric, and Fuel Cell Vehicles (2nd ed, 2009), and Integrated Power Electronic Converters and Digital Control (2009). He is also the editor of the Handbook of Automotive Power Electronics and Motor Drives (2005) and Advanced Electric Drive Vehicles (2014). He is the co-editor of Switched Reluctance Motor Drives: Fundamentals to Applications (CRC Press, 2018). Dr. Emadi was the Inaugural General Chair of the 2012 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC) and has chaired several IEEE and SAE conferences in the areas of vehicle power and propulsion. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification from 2014 to 2020.

BS, Sharif University of Technology, 1995

MS, Sharif University of Technology, 1997

PhD, Texas A&M University, 2000

  • 2021 First Place Prize Paper Award, IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification
  • 2020 Fellow, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
  • 2019 Synergy Award for Innovation, $200,000, NSERC
  • 2019 Faculty of Engineering Research Award, McMaster University
  • 2016 Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (NAI), United States
  • 2016 and 2018 Innovator of Distinction Award, McMaster Innovation Showcase, McMaster University
  • 2014 Co-recipient, Chrysler Innovation Award
  • 2014, 2012, 2005, and 2004 IEEE Vehicular Technology Society’s Best Vehicular Electronics Paper Award
  • 2013 IEEE Fellow; citation: for contributions to electric power conversion and control for electric and hybrid vehicles
  • 2011-2018 Canada Excellence Research Chair in Hybrid Powertrain
  • 2009 Named as a Chicago Matters Global Visionary, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
  • 2005 Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award, IEEE Power Electronics Society
  • 2004 Sigma Xi/Illinois Tech Award for Excellence in University Research, Illinois Institute of Technology
  • 2003 Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer of the Year, Eta Kappa Nu Association, the Electrical Engineering Honor Society
  • 2002 University Excellence in Teaching Award, Illinois Institute of Technology
  • 2002 Overall Excellence in Research Award, Office of the President, Illinois Institute of Technology
  • 1995 Ranked 1st in the entire B.S. Program of Sharif University of Technology

Recent
Books:

  • B. Bilgin, J. W. Jiang, and A. Emadi (Editors), Switched Reluctance Motor Drives: Fundamentals to Applications, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, ISBN: 978-1-13830459-8, Nov. 2018.
  • A. Emadi (Editor), Advanced Electric Drive Vehicles, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, ISBN: 978-1-4665-9769-3, Oct. 2014.
  • M. Ehsani, Y. Gao, and A. Emadi, Modern Electric, Hybrid Electric, and Fuel Cell Vehicles: Fundamentals, Theory, and Design, Second Edition, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, ISBN: 978-1-4200-5398-2, Aug. 2009.
  • A. Emadi, A. Khaligh, Z. Nie, and Y.-J. Lee, Integrated Power Electronic Converters and Digital Control, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, ISBN: 978-1-4398-0069-0, May 2009.
  • A. Emadi (Editor), Handbook of Automotive Power Electronics and Motor Drives, New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, ISBN: 0-8247-2361-9, May 2005.
  • A. Emadi, A. Nasiri, and S. B. Bekiarov, Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Active Filters, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, ISBN: 0-8493-3035-1, Oct. 2004.
  • A. Emadi, Energy-Efficient Electric Motors: Selection and Applications, New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, ISBN: 0-8247-5735-1, Sept. 2004.
  • A. Emadi, M. Ehsani, and J. M. Miller, Vehicular Electric Power Systems: Land, Sea, Air, and Space Vehicles, New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, ISBN: 0-8247-4751-8, Dec. 2003