Mr. Ali Khonya received his B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering in 2017 from the University of Tehran in Iran. He took part in a variety of academic and industrial projects at some companies including the Iran Ministry of Energy during his bachelor's degree program. At the University of Tehran's Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department, he also had the role of teaching assistant for a number of courses. After completing this program, he experienced his first experience abroad by joining the master's program in electrical engineering – smart grids at the Politecnico di Milano in Italy. Afterward, in 2020, he worked as a research and development engineering intern at the SuperGrid Institute in France to study AC-DC converters for MVDC networks with integrated renewable energy sources.

He then began his Ph.D. research in October 2021 on modeling the superconducting powertrain of an electric aircraft at the Institute for Technical Physics (ITEP) and Energy Lab. This work was a partnership between KIT and Airbus UpNext within the ASCEND (Advanced Superconducting and Cryogenic Experimental powertraiN Demonstrator) project. The motivation behind this project was to investigate the feasibility of the cryogenic systems and superconductivity on board a fuel cell-based electric aircraft. Ali's role was to address a significant challenge in developing a model that not only simulates the entire powertrain but also aids in designing its components, including the fuel cell stack, superconducting fault current limiter, DC and AC cables, motor, and DC/AC inverter. Ultimately, this study aims to advance the goal of CO2-emission-free air travel and make a positive contribution to the fight against climate change. He completed his Ph.D. in March 2025 and has since been a postdoctoral researcher, developing models for superconducting components and simulating power electronics-based power systems.