Dr. Babak Fahimi
- Professor of Electrical Engineering
- Distinguished Chair in Engineering
In 2011, the chair was created anonymously to support the research and scholarly activities of the chairholder in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
“The most rewarding aspect of my research is the joy of moving the boundaries of science and technology. Inventing the future and leading research is a blessing, which is bestowed on only a few of us, and I personally cherish this gift.”
Dr. Babak Fahimi is the founding director of the Renewable Energy and Vehicular Technology (REVT) Laboratory at UT Dallas, where researchers develop technologies to optimize the harvesting, storage and consumption of electricity for vehicular and utility applications.
Fahimi leads research on adjustable-speed motor drives, power electronic systems and transportation electrification. His 20 years of industrial and academic experience have featured work on electromechanical energy converters as well as control and topology optimization in power electronics converters. He has introduced several key technologies, holding 17 U.S. patents with six more pending.
Fahimi served as the chairman of the Power Electronics committee of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society from 2011 to 2013. He has served the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) in various other capacities, including chairing its Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference in 2007, the IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Expo in 2010, and the 2014 IEEE Industrial Electronics Annual Meeting.
Fahimi has been honored as an IEEE R.M. Bass Power Electronics Young Investigator (2003) and Office of Naval Research Young Investigator (2004). He also has received the SAE Ralph Teetor Educational Award in 2008, a Fulbright Program scholarship in 2010 and the IEEE PES Cyril Veinott Electromechanical Energy Conversion Award in 2015.
Fahimi received his PhD in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University in 1999. He held positions at Electro Standards Laboratories, the University of Missouri, Rolla and The University of Texas at Arlington before arriving at UT Dallas.