† denotes a PADA Trophy Winner
Program
Two days of informative sessions
Experts from across the globe
This year’s Sustainable Aviation Symposium Program, Chaired by Dr. Brien Seeley, features renowned leaders from technology sectors relevant to the electric aviation movement. Please join our faculty for cutting edge and visionary presentations on the sustainable transformation of aviation.
Day 1
06 May 2016
07:15
Registration and Breakfast
08:00
Opening Remarks
Dr. Brien Seeley
08:05
Passively Thermal Runaway Propagation Resistant Battery Module that Achieves > 190 Wh/kg
Highly thermally conductive interstitial materials between tightly nested, small Li-ion cells that also provides structural support to the cell can walls are critical for preventing adjacent cells from cascading into... Read More
Dr. Eric Darcy
08:30
Engineering Safety Devices for Electric Aircraft
Even the most refined, multi-engined, redundant-controlled flight vehicles have bad days. When Plan A goes south, what Plan B or C are available to protect the aircraft and its occupants? We’ll... Read More
Dean Sigler
09:00
Emission free flight with Hydrogen: dream or reality?
This presentation will give an overview on the feasibility of a hydrogen fuel cell system and hybrid system as power source for aircraft propulsion.
Dr. Josef Kallo
09:30
Green, Renewable Energy to Power Electric Aircraft
The major issues with Electric Aircraft have always been what to do about the long extension cord and provisions for a green, sustainable source of electrical energy. Over the past... Read More
Dennis Bushnell
10:00
Break
10:20
Electric Motor Breakthroughs
One would be forgiven for believing that there has been little improvement in motors in decades. Efficiencies, reliability, torque densities and power densities are well known to far exceed internal... Read More
David Calley
10:50
State of the Art Batteries
Increased demands of high energy density, low cost and safe batteries for applications in consumer electronics, electric vehicle and grid and flying devices present great opportunities and challenges to the... Read More
Dr. Yi Cui
11:20
Siemens Purpose-built Electric Aircraft Propulsion System
Dr. Frank Anton
11:50
The Bladessa Electric Powered Aircraft
A recent UC Davis Graduate who designed the 2015 NASA award winning all-electric 4-person general aviation aircraft Bladessa. Michael is now looking to further his accomplishments through new experiences in... Read More
Michael Starr
12:05
4Scight is better than hindsight: A decade of autonomous electric VTOL UAV development and commercialization
When I started developing electric quadrotors a decade ago, “low-cost” gyro sensors to stabilize each axis were the size of a lego brick and so temperature sensitive that direct sunlight... Read More
Joshua Portlock
12:20
Lunch (included with registration)
13:20
Climate Change: Data or Dogma?
In the last year, there has been extraordinary scientific, political, and public interest in satellite retrievals of atmospheric temperature change. My talk will focus on the size and significance of... Read More
Dr. Ben Santer
13:50
Power System Challenges in Manned and Unmanned Electric Aircraft
This presentation will give an overview of electric and hybrid power systems in AeroVironment’s large aircraft. It will focus on development, testing and safety experience. The similarities and differences of... Read More
Bill Parks
Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management System (UTM) for Safely Enabling Low-altitude UAS operations
NASA is developing a system to safely enable low altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) operations. The system is referred to as UAS Traffic Management (UTM). The UTM will safely enable... Read More
Dr. Parimal Kopardekar
14:40
Keeping it Simple in Crowded Skies
As we envision a future of on-demand commuter aviation, it will be important to preserve the taxi-like convenience of flying where you want and when you want. Swarm science shows... Read More
Dr. Tyler MacCready
15:05
The Potential Civil and Military Uses of UAV Swarms
Several ongoing research projects at the Naval Postgraduate School that involve various levels of cooperative control will be presented. Covering a broad spectrum of applications, all of them make use... Read More
Dr. Kevin D. Jones
15:30
Break
Autonomous Flight Forum
The Sustainable Aviation Symposium’s first-ever Autonomous Flight Forum will showcase the leading experts in this field. Much like the way self-driving cars are transforming surface transportation, autonomous flight won’t just... Read More
Joshua Portlock
Dr. Parimal Kopardekar
Bill Parks
Dr. Kevin D. Jones
Dr. Tyler MacCready
16:15
1st Annual Honorary Dr. Paul B. MacCready Lecture: From Solar Challenger to HALE Aircraft, Doing More With Much Less
Ray Morgan will speak to his experience working for Dr. Paul MacCready to turn his dream of solar powered aircraft into reality – first as a piloted demonstration aircraft, flying... Read More
W Ray Morgan
17:00
Sparky Flapjack – Inspirations from the Vought 173
This presentation looks at four notional electric aircraft designs inspired by the Vought 173, the famous “Flying Flapjack.” With its incredible slow flight and short field capability, this 1940’s design... Read More
Dr. Dan Raymer
19:00
Theme Dinners & Presentations
Energy Storage Theme Dinner
A lively informal discussion of Energy Storage topics. Moderator: Dennis Bushnell, NASA Chief Scientist NASA LARC Wendell Brown, CEO of Flite Power, Inc
Dennis Bushnell
Aerodynamics/Autonomous Flight Theme Dinner
A lively informal discussion of Aerodynamics and Autonomous Flight topics. Moderator: Dr. Brien Seeley, President Sustainable Aviation Foundation Alejandro Pensado, NASA Prize Winner, UC Davis
Dr. Brien Seeley
Motors / Propulsion Theme Dinner
A lively informal discussion of Aerodynamics and Autonomous Flight topics. David Calley – Motor Designer, Planet Rider
David Calley
Day 2
07 May 2016
07:15
Full Breakfast
08:00
Opening Remarks
Wayne Cook
08:05
Principles of High-efficiency Electric Flight – Part 1: Motor, Battery, and Power Conditioning
Principles of High-efficiency Electric Flight, Part 1: Motor, Battery, and Power Conditioning A new and fundamental theoretical framework for modeling the top-level performance of permanent-magnet-type machines is described and validated... Read More
J. Philip Barnes
08:35
From Self-Driving Cars to The Self-Driving Sky Taxi
Self-driving cars are inevitable. They are pushing technology and artificial intelligence strategies. What comes next? The technological threshold for self-driving aircraft keeps getting lower. We’ll speculate about what an autonomous... Read More
Cris Hawkins
09:05
Ballistic Recovery Parachutes for Electric Aircraft
The presentation will include the integration of electronic/autonomous activated ballistic recovery parachutes into light/medium sustainable aircraft. It will offer a discussion of the challenges in creating realistic algorithms for autonomous... Read More
Boris Popov †
09:35
P2 Xcursion, hybrid amphibious LSA
The talk will cover the topic of WHY and HOW the electric and hybrid propulsion systems ARE the future, and how aircraft design can be improved because of these systems.... Read More
Tomas Brødreskift
10:05
Break
10:25
Silent Owl Wings and Their Implications For Noise Reduction Technologies
From antiquity to Harry Potter, owls continue to captivate and mystify us. Perhaps owls’ most mysterious feat is their ability to fly silently, which enables them to both sneak up... Read More
Dr. Justin Jaworski
10:55
Principles of High-efficiency Electric Flight – Part 2: Propeller and Windprop Performance
The aerodynamics of the propeller are reviewed, and we describe a method to predict propeller performance by combining a lifting-line and wake numerical integration with Glauert’s classical “blade-element-method” induced-velocities. The... Read More
J. Philip Barnes
11:25
Aircraft Performance Specs for On-demand, High Capacity Regional Sky Transit
The mass market for a sustainable system of Regional Sky Transit will require that the performance of its electrically powered Sky Taxis fulfill a certain combination of capabilities. Those combined... Read More
Dr. Brien Seeley
11:55
Solar 6-seat Transporter, SUNSTAR and Sunseeker Duo
The presentation will provide a short background on the lineage of where these electric aircraft came from. It will include photographs and discussion on both the SunStar and the 6... Read More
Eric Raymond
12:25
The Merlin: Affordable Electric LSA
Affordable Electric Aircraft: An Oxymoron? Available soon: The Zigolo ultralight motor-glider for under $25k. And introducing the Merlin Personal Sport Aircraft (PSA) for under $50k.
Chip Erwin
12:50
Enabling Sustainable Flight with State of Art Solar Technology
Every aircraft designer knows that weight, wing area and available power are key drivers of aircraft performance. In a solar powered design, this places simultaneous constraints on solar cell efficiency... Read More
Dr. Aarohi Vijh
13:15