Sadra Tavakolian received his B.Sc. in electrical engineering, with a major in electronics, from Shahid Beheshti University, Iran, in 2019. During his undergraduate studies, he completed an internship at Iran’s Telecommunication Infrastructure Company. He then joined the Electric Drives and Power Electronics Laboratory (EDPEL) at Sharif University of Technology, where he earned his M.Sc. in power electronics and power systems, in 2022. Since 2022, Sadra has been pursuing his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Babak Nahid-Mobarakeh in the department of electrical and computer engineering. His research at the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre (MARC) focuses on the control of electric machine drives, particularly switched reluctance machines. 

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Sadra Tavakolian developed a strong interest in mathematics and physics from an early age, which led to him earning a silver medal in the International Mathematical Competition (IMC) selection stage, in Iran. This passion guided him toward the field of electrical engineering, where he built a solid foundation in analog electronics, switching circuits, stochastics, and power systems—ultimately inspiring his focus on power electronics, for his graduate studies. 

He later completed his master’s research on the dual active bridge DC-DC power converter and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering at McMaster University, under the supervision of Dr. Babak Nahid-Mobarakeh. His current research, based at the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre (MARC), focuses on the control of switched reluctance machine drives. 

With a strong background in mathematics and engineering, Sadra aims to contribute to the development of more sustainable electric drive systems for the automotive industry. He also enjoys the challenges of programming and algorithm development and has growing interests in machine learning and artificial intelligence.