Rate My Professor Kaushik Rajashekara

Prior to joining the University of Houston in 2016, Dr. Rajashekara was a Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Dallas. He served as Chief Technologist at Rolls-Royce Corporation, developing electric aircraft architectures and power conversion technologies for more electric and hybrid electric aircraft. From 1989 to 2006, he held lead technical and managerial positions at Delphi and General Motors, managing teams that developed electric machines, controllers, and power electronics for electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles, and served as Technical Fellow and Chief Scientist for advanced power conversion and drive systems. He was an Adjunct Professor at Purdue School of Engineering and Technology from 1994 to 2006. His contributions include pioneering work on the General Motors EV1, the first commercially produced electric vehicle. Dr. Rajashekara has received numerous honors, including election to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2012 for contributions to electric power conversion systems in transportation, the Global Energy Prize in 2022, the IEEE Medal for Environment and Safety Technologies in 2021, IEEE Richard Harold Kaufmann Award in 2013, election as International Fellow of the Engineering Academy of Japan in 2024, and fellowships from IEEE in 1999, SAE International in 2006, and the National Academy of Inventors in 2015.