Engineering Seminar

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Engineering Seminar Superconducting Motors for
Electric Aircraft Propulsion Date Monday,
July 11, 2005 Time 200 p.m. Location
54-130 Perseverance Hall Conference
Room Description Development of power-dense
superconducting motors for electric aircraft
propulsion Cesar Luongo, Professor of Mechanical
Engineering, Florida State University, and
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory,
Tallahassee, Florida Zero-emission aircraft and
long-endurance Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) will
be all-electric. Today's electric motors do not
have high enough power density to be a feasible
option for aircraft propulsion. High-Temperature
superconductors (HTS), offer the possibility of
designing motor topologies that could rival gas
turbines in terms of power and torque density,
allowing for the development of all-electric
aircraft. This talk will summarize work being
done under NASA funding to develop such high
power density electric motors. Detailed design
concepts will be discussed, as well as the early
phases of an experimental program aimed at
developing a proof-of-principle HTS motor capable
of reaching an initial target of 6 HP/lb (similar
to a gas turbine). The speaker, on the faculty of
Mechanical Engineering at Florida State
University, will also touch briefly on a number
of other student research projects in a variety
of topics within applied superconductivity and
cryogenics. BIO-SKETCH Dr. Cesar Luongo joined
the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and
the faculty of the Dept. of Mechanical
Engineering, Florida State University, in 1999.
His broad area of research is applied
superconductivity, specifically superconducting
magnets, and more recently HTS electric motors.
His teaching activities are centered on training
students on multi-disciplinary design through a
project-based approach. Prior to joining the
NHMFL and FSU Dr. Luongo worked in private
industry for almost 14 years, most of that time
at the Research Development division of Bechtel
in San Francisco, California. While at Bechtel
his main area of activity was Superconducting
Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES). Dr. Luongo holds
a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Electrical
Engineering minor) from Stanford University
(1986), an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from
Stanford University (1981), and an Engineer
degree in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering
from the University of Uruguay (1979). Dr. Luongo
is the author of over 50 publications and 2
patents in a variety of areas reflecting his
interests over the span of his career solar
energy, MHD power generation and plasma flows,
network flow simulation, applied optimization,
superconducting magnet technology, and electric
motors.