Our Team

At the Grid Modernization Centre, our work is driven by a dynamic, collaborative team of researchers, engineers, and academic leaders. Rooted in the University of Toronto’s globally recognized research community, we bring together deep expertise in electrical and computer engineering, energy systems, and smart grid innovation.

Professor Ali Hooshyar

Ali Hooshyar joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto in 2018. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Centre for Applied Power Electronics, University of Toronto, in 2015. He was an Assistant Professor at the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, York University, Toronto, from 2015 to 2018. His research interests include the protection and control of renewable energy systems and smart grids. Dr. Hooshyar is an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid and the IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery. He is also the Guest Editor-in-Chief of the Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery on Resilience-Oriented Protection, Control, and Monitoring Systems for Power Grids. Dr. Hooshyar is an Associate Editor of the Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

Professor Deepa Kundur

Deepa Kundur is Professor & Chair of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. A native of Toronto, Canada, she received the BASc, MASc, and PhD degrees all in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1993, 1995, and 1999, respectively, from the University of Toronto.

Professor Kundur’s research interests lie at the interface of cybersecurity, signal processing and complex dynamical networks. She is an author of over 200 journal and conference papers. Professor Kundur has participated in several editorial boards and currently serves on the Advisory Board of IEEE Spectrum. She has served in numerous conference executive organization roles, including as General Chair of the 2018 GlobalSIP Symposium on Information Processing, Learning and Optimization for Smart Energy Infrastructures, and TPC Co-Chair for IEEE SmartGridComm 2018. Symposium Co-Chair for the Communications for the Smart Grid Track of ICC 2017, General Chair for the Workshop on Communications, Computation and Control for Resilient Smart Energy Systems at ACM e-Energy 2016, General Chair for the Workshop on Cyber-Physical Smart Grid Security and Resilience at Globecom 2016, General Chair for the Symposium on Signal and Information Processing for Smart Grid Infrastructures at GlobalSIP 2016, General Chair for the 2015 International Conference on Smart Grids for Smart Cities, General Chair for the 2015 Smart Grid Resilience (SGR) Workshop at IEEE GLOBECOM 2015 and General Chair for the IEEE GlobalSIP’15 Symposium on Signal and Information Processing for Optimizing Future Energy Systems.

Professor Kundur’s research has received best paper recognitions at numerous venues, including the 2015 IEEE Smart Grid Communications Conference, the 2015 IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference, the 2012 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical & Computer Engineering, the 2011 Cyber Security and Information Intelligence Research Workshop and the 2008 IEEE INFOCOM Workshop on Mission Critical Networks. She has also been the recipient of teaching awards at both the University of Toronto and Texas A&M University. She is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and a Senior Fellow of Massey College.

Professor Reza Iravani

Reza Iravani received the BSc degree from Tehran Polytechnique, Iran, in 1976, and the MSc and PhD degrees in 1981 and 1985 from the University of Manitoba, all in electrical engineering. In July 1987, he joined the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, where he now holds the rank of professor with tenure. He has been the holder of the L Lau Chair since November 2004. He founded the Centre for Applied Power Electronics (CAPE) in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering in 1989 and serves as its director. His research interests include control and operation of High Voltage DC (HVDC) grids, integration of renewable/alternative energy resources and storage systems in power distribution and HVDC-AC transmission systems, electric vehicle fast charging stations and AC-DC microgrids.

Professor Olivier Trescases

Olivier Trescases (BASc, MASc, PhD) received his PhD degree in electrical engineering at the University of Toronto in 2007. Before joining the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor in 2009, he worked as a Concept Engineer and mixed-signal IC Designer in Infineon Technologies, Villach, Austria, focusing on safety-critical automotive applications. At the University of Toronto, his group conducts research on high-efficiency switched-mode power converters for automotive, industrial, aerospace and renewable energy applications. His expertise is in the area of energy management, high-frequency/high-density power electronics, battery management systems, electric vehicles and power integrated circuits, including wide bandgap semiconductors. While on sabbatical in 2016, he worked at the Texas Instruments Kilby Labs, Santa Clara, CA, USA, and then at NXP Semiconductor in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Trescases is currently a Full Professor at U of T and a Canada Research Chair in Power Electronic converters. He is the Director of the U of T Electric Vehicle Research Centre, where he is participating in multi-disciplinary collaborations with leading automotive suppliers and OEMs. Prof. Trescases has published over 115 papers in peer reviewed IEEE venues, including several best paper awards, he is an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. He has been involved with the IEEE Toronto Section (4000+ members) for over 10 years in various roles and served as the Section Chair from 2018-2019. He has served on various IEEE conference technical committees, including the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC), the Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, and the International Symposium on Power Semiconductors and ICs. He is a co-inventor on over 20 filed patents.