Masoud Farzaneh received his Power Engineering degree from Polytechnic of Tehran in 1973, his Masters and PhD in1980, jointly from Institut National Polytechnique and Université Paul Sabatier in France. Later, in 1986, he obtained a Doctorat d'état ès sciences from Université Paul Sabatier.

He is currently Director of the International Center on Icing and Power Network Engineering (CENGIVRE), as well as Chairholder of the NSERC/Hydro-Quebec Industrial Chair on Atmospheric Icing of Power Network Equipment (CIGELE) and of the Canada Research Chair on Engineering of Power Network Atmospheric Icing (INGIVRE) at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), Canada. He has also been Director of the Masters Program in Engineering at UQAC, of which he was initiator, and member of several decision-making committees.

His research is in the field of power engineering, including atmospheric icing of power network equipment, outdoor insulation and corona-induced vibration. He authored or co-authored more than 890 scientific contributions, including 487 technical papers, and 18 books or book chapters. Throughout his career, he has so far trained 213 highly qualified personnel, including 29 Postdoctorate Fellows, 40 PhDs and 44 Masters. Professor Farzaneh’s teaching activities involve courses at the Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. levels. To date, he has given a number of courses in the fields of power transmission and distribution, high voltage engineering and high voltage discharge physics.

He is currently Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, and member of the editorial board of journals such as High Voltage Engineering (China), IEEE CEIDP Digest, and Journal of Iranian Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IAEEE). He is IEEE DEIS Technical Vice-President and Chairman of the Outdoor Insulation Committee, as well as member of CIGRÉ Canada Executive Committee and Convenor of the WG B2.44 on coatings for protecting overhead power network equipment in winter conditions. He is also Chairman or member of other committees and task forces of IEEE and CIGRÉ.

Professor Farzaneh is member of a number of learned societies. He is Fellow of IEEE, Fellow of The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC). He is Chartered Engineer of the Engineering Council of the United Kingdom, Charter Member of the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers, as well as a member of CIGRÉ, New York Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, and Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec.

His contributions and achievements in research and teaching have been recognized by the attribution of a number of prestigious prizes and awards at national and international levels, including:

2010 - ADRIQ/NSERC Award recognizing the excellence of industry/university partnerships highlighting the fruitful partnership established with Hydro-Quebec.

2009 - Tribute of the President Award, for Research and Teaching, of Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, in recognition of his remarkable contribution to the development and renown of Quebec engineering, in his pursuit of excellence.

2009 - The development of icephobic nanostructured coatings, selected by Québec Science Magazine as one of the 10 most important discoveries of 2008.

2008 - Charles-Biddle Québec Citizenship Award, in recognition of exceptional contribution to the development of Québec society by an individual from a cultural community.

2005 - Nominated to the Circle of Excellence of the Université du Québec for his outstanding academic achievements and the significance of his research.

2005 - NSERC Leo-Deriks Prize for his fruitful and long-term collaboration with Hydro-Quebec, which lead to the establishment of the most important laboratory worldwide in the domain of atmospheric icing.

2004 - Selected among the 100 Leaders and Dreamers – Canada’s Greatest Innovators by McLean’s magazine.

2000 - Discovery Recognition Prize of the Québec Science magazine for his model for predicting insulator flashover

1992-04 - Best Paper Prize on 5 occasions, as author or co-author with his students or researchers, at international conferences in recognition of the outstanding originality and significance of those contributions.

1996 - Louis-Élie Beauchamp Prize for his contribution to the advancement of engineering and fundamental sciences, as well as to scientific development in the Saguenay Lake-St-John region, Canada.