Dr. Shahram Tafazoli's photo

Shahram Tafazoli
PhD '97

Shahram Tafazoli was born in 1967 in small city of Maragheh in Azarbayejan province of Iran. He received his Bachelor and Master’s degrees with honors in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1988 and 1991, respectively. He immigrated to Canada in 1992 to pursue a PhD degree in UBC’s Electrical and Computer Department under supervision of professors Peter Lawrence and Clarence de Silva. Shahram received the University Graduate Award (UGF) during his doctorate studies in UBC. After receiving the PhD degree in 1997, he started a one-man technology consulting company based in UBC. This consulting company has since evolved to Motion Metrics International Corp. The company today has more than 60 full-time employees and specializes in design, development, and commercialization of artificial intelligence-based machine vision and sensor-based solutions for tough mining challenges. The company crossed $10M in revenue in 2017 and continues to grow with offices in Chile, Africa, and soon Australia. Motion Metrics was a finalist for BC Export Award in the Innovation and Advanced Technology category in 2017 with 95% of its revenue coming from export of its MADE-IN-BC products. Shahram holds an adjunct professorship position with UBC’s Electrical and Computer Engineering and has offered courses in robotics, control systems, and digital signal processing. He is an associate member of the Creative Destruction Lab West (CDL-West) and an angle investor with investments in early stage BC-based and other Canadian technology ventures. He has co-authored many patents with other Motion Metrics engineers, majority of whom are UBC alumni. In the early years, Motion Metrics benefited from such Canadian government funding as Precarn, NRC IRAP, and BCIC. Motion Metrics sponsors several graduate scholarships in various applied sciences departments and events at UBC. The company has ambitious plans on autonomous and space mining in the coming years. Motion Metrics also offers enticing co-op opportunities. Shahram lives with his wife and three sons in Vancouver and enjoys mountain biking in University endowment lands. 

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