It is with great sadness that we would like to announce that Dr. Michel Poloujadoff passed away on December 13, 2021, at the age of 89.

He graduated from high school in 1950 and he got his BSc in Electrical Engineering from Supelec, Paris, France (now CentraleSupelec) in 1955. He then moved to the US and got his MSc in Computer Science from Harvard University in Howard Aiken’s lab. While he returned back to France in 1960, he got his DSc in electrical engineering from the University of Paris (now Sorbonne University).

From 1961 to 1986, he was Professor of Electrical Engineering at Grenoble University (now Grenoble Alpes University and Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble). In 1986, he moved to University Pierre et Marie Curie (now Sorbonne University) as Professor of Electrical Engineering. He remained in position up to his retirement in 2000. In June 2000, the University Pierre and Marie Curie organized the « Electrical Engineering Jubilee » in which around 100 colleagues coming from everywhere in the world attended to honor him.

Dr. Michel Poloujadoff did advise not less than 46 Ph.D. and DSc students during his periods in Grenoble and Paris. He was also the prime mover of a graduate school in Electrical Engineering in Tunisia. He published not less than 5 textbooks which have been translated also into Chinese and Spanish. His book on the Theory of Linear Induction Machinery (Clarendon Press, 1980) was the first one on the topic and is still a milestone for electrical engineers.

From 1970 on, he has also published 49 journal papers, 18 magazine papers, and 8 conference papers in IEEE conferences and journals. He has been deeply involved in the IEEE France Section as the launcher of the Life Member Affinity Group in 2004. He has been Chair of this group (2004-2016). He has been elevated IEEE Fellow (Class of 1982) and Life Fellow in 1998. He got the prestigious Nikola Tesla Award in 1991 and the Lamme Medal in 1994. He was also a Distinguished Lecturer for PES and for IAS.

He has been one of 8 founders of the International Conference on Electrical Machines (ICEM) in 1974. It is the largest and the most prestigious conference in the area. He has been a Steering Committee member from 1974 to 2000. He has been honored by the ICEM Arthur Ellison Achievement Award in 2012.

He will be deeply missed by all the electrical machines community.

Gérard-André Capolino
Emeritus Professor, University of Picardie « Jules Verne », France