ECE Hall of Fame: Ali Nourai

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Nourai

Alumnus Ali Nourai earned his BSEE degree at SharifUniversity of Technology of Iran in 1975) and then his MSEE in 1976 at The Ohio State University. He earned his Dr. Eng.  at RPI in 1978. His focus of study was Electric Power Engineering.

Nourai served as Senior Engineer  at American Electric Power (AEP), starting in 1980. He became Manager of the Energy Storage Program in 2006. His many years of industry experience includes research at AEP, where he launched a successful MW-scale grid battery system - the first of its kind in the United States. 

The alumnus joined DNV GL (KEMA) in 2010. He held positions as Executive Consultant (DNV GL - 2010), and later Director of the Global Storage Segment (DNV GL - 2014). He was responsible for supporting thought leadership, road mapping and outlining the strategic options in energy storage for DNV GL and its clients. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Energy Storage Association (2011). He retired in 2016.

Nourai is an IEEE Fellow. He has six US patents for his innovative ideas to improve the performance of electric grids. He is the former Chairman of the Energy Storage Association (ESA). His 40 years' industry experience includes research in American Electric Power (AEP) where he launched AEP’s successful MW-scale grid battery system that was the first in the United States. He introduced the concept of the Community Energy Storage (CES). He offered many lectures on utility-scale energy storage as a guest speaker in a number of countries. 

He has published a book: “An Etymological Dictionary of Persian, English and other Indo European Languages.”