DATE:                         9.26.24

TIME:                          4:00pm

LOCATION:             31-270

SPEAKER:                Dr. Alan Epstein, R.C Maclaurin Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Emeritus, MIT

TOPIC:                       Batteries, Airliners, and Money

ABSTRACT:

In recent years there has been much excitement over the possibility of battery energy storage replacing aircraft fuel, both to reduce aviation’s environmental impact and to enable new civil aviation markets. Interest in commuter, regional, and narrowbody airliners has been driven by global warming concerns, while excitement over electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft is focused on opening new markets for aviation. Since the useful energy density of current batteries are more than an order of magnitude lower than that of fuels now used or contemplated, much attention has been paid to the battery energy density needed to yield ranges useful in various aircraft markets. This lecture examines how other characteristics of known lithium battery chemistries would influence electric aircraft design, cost, and environmental impact.  

BIO: 

Dr. Alan Epstein joined the faculty at MIT in 1980 and is presently the R.C. Maclaurin Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Emeritus. Starting in 2007, he served as Vice President Technology and Environment at Pratt & Whitney, retiring in 2018.  Dr. Epstein has published and lectured widely on aerospace technology, microsystems, and the environment, including testifying to Congress. He has served on many advisory panels including as the chair of the NASA Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, chair of the Board on Army Science and Technology, and a member of the NASA Advisory Council. Dr. Epstein is a member U.S. National Academy of Engineering and chair of its Aerospace Section. He is an Honorary Fellow of the AIAA, a fellow of the ASME and a fellow of the UK Royal Aeronautical Society.