Tomy Sebastian of Halla Mechatronics, Michigan, USA

Biography:

Dr. Tomy Sebastian received the B.Sc. (Eng.) degree from Regional Engineering College Calicut (presently National Institute of Technology, Calicut), India, the M.S. degree from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, MA.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto, Canada. From 1979 to 1980, he was with the R & D Center of KELTRON, Trivandrum, India. From 1987 to 1992, he was with the Research and Applied Technology Division of Black and Decker Corporation, USA. From 1992 to 2013, he was with Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems and Nexteer Automotive, USA, where he was the Chief Scientist at the Innovation Center.  He also taught several courses on Power Electronics, Motor Drives and Advances Motor Design at University of Toronto, Canada, University of Maryland, College Park, and The Ohio State University, Columbus at various times. Dr. Sebastian has done extensive research in the area of permanent magnet motor design and control issues and applications in steering systems. He has published over 65 technical articles and holds 31 US patents. In 2003 he was elected as a Fellow of IEEE. He served on the IEEE Industry Application Society Board during 2004-05 as the Chair of the Industrial Power Conversion Systems Department. During 2008-2009, he served as a distinguished Lecturer of IEEE Industry Applications Society. Dr. Sebastian was a co-recipient of an IEEE Industry Application Society Transactions first-prize paper award. He was inducted in to the Delphi / Nexteer Innovation Hall of Fame in 2006. He was the recipient of the 2010 IEEE Industry Applications Society outstanding achievement award. He was the General Chair for the First IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (IEEE ECCE 2009) held in San Jose, USA, and the Exposition Committee Chair of ECCE 2011 and ECCE2012 and the Co-General Chair of the IEEE Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES 2012) in Bengaluru, India. He was the President, IEEE Industry Applications Society during 2017-2018. He was the receipt of IEEE Nikola Tesla Award in 2019. Tomy Sebastian’s pioneering work on permanent magnet (PM) machine technology has paved the way for electric power steering (EPS) systems that are making automobiles more efficient, environmentally friendly, and safe. He is currently the Director of motor drive systems at Halla Mechatronics, Michigan, USA.