Praveen K. Jain received his PhD from the University of Toronto in 1987. He is currently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Power Electronics, and Director of the Centre for Energy and Power Electronics Research at Queen’s University. He made pioneering contributions in introducing resonant power conversion technology in telecommunications during his work at Nortel in the 1990’s. He played a key role in the design and development of high frequency power conversion equipment for the International Space Station at Canadian Astronautics in the late 1980’s. Over the last 35 years, he has made sustained contributions to the theory and practice of power electronics through his considerable consulting work with industry. He is the founder of two successful start-up companies, CHiL Semiconductor in the area of digital power controller (acquired by International Rectifier), and SPARQ Systems in the area of photovoltaic micro-inverters, listed at the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture in 2022.
He has supervised and guided over 100 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and power electronics engineers. He has published over 600 papers and holds over 100 patents. He is the recipient of the 2021 IEEE Medal in Power Engineering, the 2017 IEEE Canada Electric Power Medal, the 2011 IEEE William Newell Power Electronics Award, and the 2004 Engineering Medal of the Ontario Professional Engineers. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Royal Society of Canada, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
