Solar Eclipse 2024

Members of the GTL viewed solar eclipse in Boston, Rochester, and City of Niagara Falls on April 8th.

GTL Student Dinner at Flour

The GTL students enjoyed delicious sandwiches at Flour last Tuesday, as part of the Fradkin Graduate Student Lunch (GSL) program .

GTL at IGTI Turbo Expo 2023

The GTL had the first-ever booth at the ASME IGTI Turbo Expo, attracting visitors from around the world. The GTL members interacted with audience with great energy and enthusiasm. A GTL student, Zhibo Chen, presented a paper at the conference. It is named Tail-Integrated Boundary Layer Ingesting Propulsion Systems for Turbo-Electric Aircraft, and co-authored with Dr. Galbraith, Prof. Spakovszky, Prof. Greitzer and Dr. Sabnis.

1-Megawatt Project on MIT Homepage

GTL researchers designed a 1-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying the largest aircraft. The 1-megawatt motor comprises key enabling technologies: a high-speed permanent magnet outer rotor, a low loss tooth-and-slot stator, an advanced heat exchanger, and integrated, high-performance power electronics. The team carried out multiple risk mitigation experiments to show that each component can operate as designed and at conditions exceeding normal operational demands, including the stator (a, b, and f) the magnetic rotor (c), the heat exchanger (d), and the power electronics boards (e). The full article can be found here.

GTL Japan Trip

GTL members had a wonderful trip to Himeji, Japan, where they attended a workshop, visited Himeji Castle, enjoyed beautiful scenery and delicious food.

Memento from GTL 75th

Prof. Graham Pullan received a lovely memento from the GTL 75th anniversary.

Congratulations, Dr. Chen!

On March 24th, Yuankang Chen successfully defended his thesis. Congratulations!!

Dr. Chen will be greatly missed in the Gas Turbine Lab, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!

AeroAstro Open House

Prospective students chatted with current members of the GTL during AeroAstro Open House.

Green Tannenbaum Lunch

GTL students had a special Green Tannenbaum Lunch, hosted by Santa Voet and Joe the Elf.

AeroAstro Gala & Dinner Cruise

GTL students had a wonderful night at the AeroAstro graduate student gala, enjoying tasty food, energetic music, dance, and beautiful (and cold) views on a cruise.

Congratulations, Dr. Voet!

On December 1st, Laurens Voet successfully defended his thesis. Congratulations!!

Dr. Voet will be joining Garrett Motion as an Air Foil Bearing Science Engineer. He will be greatly missed in the Gas Turbine Lab, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!

GTL Student Thanksgiving

Students at the GTL celebrated Thanksgiving by cooking their favorite dishes at the Sidney-Pacific Graduate Residence.

GTL 75th Anniversary

The MIT Gas Turbine Laboratory celebrated its 75th Anniversary on Friday, Oct. 7th, 2022. Over 140 participants (alumni and friends, former and current collaborators, and leaders in the field) enjoyed a day filled with recollections and remembrances of the past, perspectives on the future of power and propulsion, lightning talks by our students, tours of the lab, and a celebration dinner in the Stratton Student Center.

Summer ‘22

Members of the Gas Turbine Lab did a lot this summer! Among many accomplishments, we empirically qualified bison, made the pilgrimage to The Bean, watched the sunset from Cape Cod, and published a few papers along the way.

Dr. Durgesh Chandel selected for AIAA Diversity Working Group

Recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion, the AIAA Diversity and Inclusion Working Group focuses on raising awareness, conducting continuous assessments of AIAA membership diversity, and facilitating improvements throughout the community. Dr. Chandel has been selected as a member of this sub-committee. Congratulations, Durgesh!

Congratulations, Dr. Dowdle!

On April 21st, Aidan Dowdle successfully defended his thesis. Congratulations!!

As of today, Dr. Dowdle will be joining Draper as a systems research engineer. He will be greatly missed in the Gas Turbine Lab, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!

Dr. Durgesh Chandel selected for AIAA Technical Committee

Consisting of worldwide experts in their respective fields, AIAA Technical Committees work to develop, support, and administer AIAA conferences, publications, awards, and design contests. Dr. Chandel has been selected as a member of the Thermophysics Technical Committee under the aerospace sciences group. The scope of this committee includes the study and applications of the properties and mechanisms involved in thermal energy transfer and storage in gases, liquids, and solids, or combinations thereof. Congratulations, Durgesh!

Cross-disciplinary collaboration during IAP:

During the Independent Activities Period (IAP) some students from the GTL and Space Propulsion Lab explored temperature constraints of gas turbine engines for novel applications. While the results of this effort remain unpublished, several follow-on activities are already being planned!

Congratulations Dr. Hur!

On October 4th, In Young Hur successfully defended his thesis entitled Forced Response System Identification of Full Aero-Engine Rotordynamic Systems. Congratulations!!

Now Dr. Hur will be working as engineering consultant in Exponent. He will be greatly missed in the Gas Turbine Lab, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!

Congratulations, Laurens!

Laurens Voet, a third-year Ph.D. student in the Gas Turbine Laboratory and the Laboratory for Aviation and Environment, was recently awarded the Luis de Florez Graduate Award! This award is in recognition and support of his work on the environmental impacts of supersonic transport.