His Mission: Technology to Integrate Batteries Into Structural Components Of Battery-Powered Aircraft Dr. Saman Farhangdoust, assistant professor of Aerospace Engineering, has received a $500,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop a novel technology that integrates batteries into the structural components of next-generation electric aircraft, such as those involved in advanced air mobility (AAM), to increase range and enhance safety. Farhangdoust described battery storage as a “critical challenge” in AAM aircraft, such as air taxis. Battery-powered aircraft, including electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), have limited energy-storage capacity, restricting their range. The proposal by Farhangdoust aims to integrate batteries into aircraft structural components, such as wing ribs and other load-bearing structures. The approach, which introduces a new class of battery systems designed to improve system-level energy density and safety, uses “4D printing,” — a technology that, unlike 3D printing, enables structural components to adapt to fluctuations, such as pressure.
