Illinois professors and graduate students are collaborating with NASA to help more-electric aircraft take flight. This means that electric machines and power electronics must have both ultra-high efficiency and be lightweight in the 1 MW power class. Prof. Haran and his team of graduate students presented results from recent spin tests, manufacturing insights, loss validation measurements, and winding quality analysis for their 1 MW high-speed, low-inductance, permanent magnetic machine prototype.

Haran and Pilawa group at 2017 NASA annual review

Haran and Pilawa groups at NASA annual review

To drive Prof. Haran’s electric motor, Prof. Pilawa and his team are developing flying capacitor multilevel inverters. The research presentations by both the Haran and the Pilawa research groups were well received during the NASA Annual Review at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Prof. Haran’s team includes graduate students: Andy Yoon, Xuan Yi, Nathaniel Renner, Aaron Anderson, Jackson Lenz, Xiaolong Zhang, Austin Jin, Dongsu  Lee, and Lijun Zheng. Prof. Pilawa’s team includes: Nate Pallo, Thomas Foulkes, Chris Barth, and Samantha Coday.