Kais studied Electrical Power Engineering at Ecole Nationale Polytechnique in Algeria
(Ingenieur d’Etat) and in 1993 he received the Ph.D. degree from the University of
Sheffield. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the Department
of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield and is seconded to
Magnomatics for a proportion of his time. His expertise encompasses characterisation and
modelling of soft ferromagnetic materials, the impulse magnetisation and optimal
utilisation of rare-earth permanent magnets, electromagnetic field analyses, and the
design optimisation and realisation of novel electromagnetic machines and devices for
applications ranging from cost sensitive consumer goods to aerospace.
It was during his research on high-performance fault-tolerant permanent magnet drives for
safety-critical applications, that the concept of the radial-field high-torque magnetic
gearing was conceived, and subsequently a number of alternative magnetic gear topologies,
suitable for a wide range of applications, have been proposed. In 2003 he proposed, and
later demonstrated, the magnetically and mechanically integrated gear and motor, or
‘pseudo’ direct drive, followed in 2007 by the invention of the magnetically geared
continuously variable transmission. Kais is the originator of practical magnetic gear
technologies and has created a field that is now becoming a significant area of academic
and industrial research around the world.