Biography

Professor K.T. Chau received his B.Sc.(Eng.) degree with First Class Honours, M.Phil. degree, and Ph.D. degree all in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from The University of Hong Kong. He joined the alma mater in 1995, and currently serves as Professor in the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Director of the International Research Centre for Electric Vehicles, and Director of BEng degree in Electrical Engineering. His major research contributions to the areas of Electric & Hybrid Vehicles, Machines & Drives, Clean & Renewable Energies and Power Electronics, include the planning of EV transportation systems, the development of advanced motor drives for electric propulsion, the coordination of battery-ultracapacitor hybrid energy sources for electric vehicles (EVs), the development of integrated-starter-generator systems and electric variable transmission systems for hybrid EVs (HEVs), the development of advanced machine topologies for wind power generation, the development of thermoelectric waste-heat recovery and temperature control systems for HEVs, the investigation of magnetic gearing for vehicular and industrial applications, the investigation of chaotic motor drives and their industrial applications, the investigation of ultrasonic motor drives and their industrial applications, the design of resonant converters and inverters, and the design of ultracapacitor-based multilevel converters and inverters. In these areas, he has published 4 books, 7 book chapters, over 400 refereed technical papers and many industrial reports. His major teaching contributions to the area of Electric Vehicles are the first introduction of the course on Electric Vehicles in 1994 – probably one of the earliest university courses on Electric Vehicles worldwide, the development of EV simulation tool for educational purposes and the delivery of lectures for the public. He has authored the book Modern Electric Vehicle Technology published by the Oxford University Press. This book has been highly commended in the Power Engineering Journal – “Chan and Chau are unabashed enthusiasts for the EV. Their backstage work has been assiduous and careful over the last 20 years. …… Their comprehensive exposition of the technology will form a handy reference: it has the ring of authority”. He has also authored the book Chaos in Electric Drive Systems – Analysis, Control and Application published by the Wiley-IEEE Press. This book is the first monograph to comprehensively treat chaos in electric drive systems. His teaching philosophy follows the Confucian classic Li Ji «礼记» – Teaching and learning (research) are mutually motivating. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), UK, and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA. He has served as chairs and organizing committee members for many international conferences, especially in the area of Electric Vehicles. Currently, he serves as Co-Editor of the Journal of Asian Electric Vehicles, and Editorial Board Member of the IET Electric Power Applications, the International Journal of Vehicle Design, the Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications, and the Progress in Electromagnetics Research. He has also been international consultants for electric light buses and electric motorcycles. Professor Chau has received many awards: including the Chang Jiang Chair Professorship by the Ministry of Education, China; the National Overseas Young Researcher Award by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); the Environmental Excellence in Transportation Award for Education, Training and Public Awareness by the International Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE); the Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology at the International Conference on College Teaching and Learning; the University Teaching Fellow Award by The University of Hong Kong; and the Outstanding Young Researcher Award by The University of Hong Kong.

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