Kiruba S. Haran
Associate Professor
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Ambitious goals have been set for future transport aircraft to ensure the sustainability of the aviation industry. This includes a better than 70% reduction in fuel burn. These challenging goals require disruptive technologies beyond the current evolutionary trends. One approach being explored is the use of electric/hybrid-electric propulsion. Small electric aircraft are already being produced and offered commercially, but significant challenges prevent scaling up to commercial aviation. Technology gaps include the availability of lightweight batteries, motors, generators and transmission lines. In a recent report, the National Academy of Engineers has identified power levels and specific-power targets for electrical machines to enable the electrification of different classes of aircraft. Both cryogenic and non-cryogenic machines are being pursued to meet these requirements, and significant advances have made in the last few years. Risks remain in their practical implementation in actual aircraft. This talk will describe the state of the art in airborne electrical machines, approaches for attaining higher power and efficiency, and potential challenges and opportunities in the integration of these technologies in electric/hybrid electric aircraft. Experience from a NASA NRA to develop a high specific power 1-MW motor will also be shared.

About the speaker...

Kiruba Haran obtained his BS in Electrical Engineering from OAU in Nigeria, and a PhD from RPI in Troy, NY. He is an Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Associate Director of the Grainger Center for Electrical Machines and Electromechanics. Over the past five years Kiruba has been working with NASA and industry partners on high specific power motors and drives for electrified aircraft. Prior to this, he was at GE Research for 13 years, developing electrical machine technology for multiple GE businesses. His contributions include demonstration of a multi-megawatt superconducting generator for the US AFRL, which could enable a range of airborne applications including hybrid electric propulsion for large transport aircraft. Kiruba is a former chair of the Electric Machinery Committee of the IEEE Power and Energy Society, and serves on the Steering Committee of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Community, the AIAA Aircraft Electrified Propulsion and Power Working Group, and the editorial board of the IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion. He is an IEEE Fellow and Associate Fellow of AIAA.