Azizur RAHMAN

PROFESSOR AZIZUR RAHMAN Suddenly passed away on June 16, 2018 in St. John's, NF, surrounded by his family. He was the beloved husband to Alta for 55 years and loving father to Diana (Kevin) of San Francisco, Proton (Tanis Adey) of St. John's, NF, and Adam (Corrine) of London, ON. The joys of his life were his grandchildren, Ryan, Brooke, Isabella, Jasmine, Xavier, Arissa and Asher. Fondly known as "Aziz", he had a magnanimous and generous spirit that livened any room he entered. His energy, intellect and determination were all admired. Dr. Rahman was born in Santahar, Bangladesh on January 9, 1941 and came to Canada as a Commonwealth Scholar to study electric engineering at the University of Toronto. Over the next 54 years, he made substantial contributions to the field of engineering as a leader, teacher, researcher and inventor, and published over 700 papers, he had 11 patents, and co-authored multiple books. He was a pioneer of modern electric motors and machines used in various industrial applications. Amongst his accomplishments, Dr. Rahman is best known for developing the world's first self-start, high efficiency, Interior Permanent Magnet (IPM) motor, which enabled Toyota to launch the world's first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, the "Prius". He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, National Academy of Sciences and received many technical and teaching awards from all societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), GE and others. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, Institute of Engineering in Canada, UK and Bangladesh. He was a proud Canadian who never forgot his humble roots. He always made time for his students, near and far, to help them advance.