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Professor Nirmal Nair is a Professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, where he directs the Power Systems Group. He earned his BE in Electrical Engineering from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, India, an ME in Electrical Engineering specializing in High Voltage Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, USA, between 2000 and 2004. Before joining the University of Auckland in 2004, he held teaching roles in Vallabh Vidyanagar and Morbi, India, in the early 1990s, and a position at an engineering college in College Station, Texas, USA. His career at Auckland has advanced to full professorship, marked by his inaugural professorial lecture in July 2025.

Nair's academic interests center on power systems in the contexts of protective relaying, electricity markets, voltage security, blackouts and resilience, smart grids, and integration of distributed generation and renewable energy sources, including standards like IEC 61850, blockchain applications, microgrids, energy storage, electric vehicles, photovoltaic systems, cyber-resilience, digital twins, machine learning, artificial intelligence, low-carbon transitions, and energy policy. He has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, supervised over 200 postgraduate students, and secured nearly $12 million in external funding across almost 70 research projects. Key contributions include a 2006 technical submission on grid risks following an Auckland blackout, informing national strategic upgrades, and leadership in projects such as the Future Architecture of the Network programme on electricity network decarbonisation and QuakeCore for infrastructure resilience during transport electrification. Nair has received major awards including IEEE Fellowship in early 2025 for contributions to power system protection and renewable energy integration, Fellowship of the Asia Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association, and CIGRE Distinguished Membership. He holds roles such as IEEE Power and Energy Society Vice President for Education and Secretary for the CIGRE New Zealand National Committee, and delivers public lectures and keynotes.