Design of Electrified Propulsion Aircraft (2-Day In-Person Course) 8 June 2026 - 9 June 2026 Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, CA

1. Introduction
   • Summary of recent electrified aircraft projects
   • Propulsion Integration Considerations
     • Taxonomy of propulsion and power architectures including hybrid architectures with turbines and fuel cells
     • Propulsion efficiency chains & examples
     • Aero-propulsive interaction and Distributed Propulsion
   • Electric Aircraft Conceptual Sizing
     • Range equation customized for electric aircraft
     • Range and weight sensitivities to battery technologies
     • Future battery chemistries and performance potentials
     • Simplified battery modeling including state of charge, depth of discharge, battery life, degradation, power C-rate, and reserves

2. Hybrid Electric Aircraft Design Process

• Aircraft design process: from conceptual to detailed design
• Overview of different conceptual design approaches for hybrid-electric aircraft
• Design requirements including airworthiness regulations
• Flight-performance equations including aero-propulsive interaction
• Constructing the performance constraints diagram
• Simplified hybrid-electric powertrain modelling
• Component sizing conditions: one-engine inoperative condition
• Sizing for total energy requirements
• Demonstration of sizing process with step-by-step example: sizing of an aircraft with leading-edge distributed propulsion
• How to expand the sizing process towards alternative energy sources (e.g. hydrogen, fuel cells) and propulsor layouts (e.g. over-the-wing, tip-mounted, boundary-layer ingestion)

3. Propulsion Components and Modeling

• Review of the electric and hybrid electric drivetrain and components
• Simple reduced order modeling
• Component characterization (sizing and performance)
  • Prime movers – gas turbines and other IC machines
  • Prime movers – batteries and fuel cells
  • Electric drivetrain components – generators, rectifiers, inverters, power distribution, motors
  • Mechanical conversion – shafts and gearboxes
  • Propulsors – ducted fans and propellers
• Thermal management system design and performance
  • Heat acquisition – component cooling technologies and approaches; heat pumping systems
  • Heat transport – pumps, fans, ducts and pipes
  • Heat rejection – heat exchangers, phase change materials, skin coolers
• Full system model examples and exercises

4. Performance Assessment of Hybrid Electric Aircraft

• Assessment Process: Introduction and steps in the process
• Baselining: Projecting the baseline forward, defining EIS and technology level (TRL considerations), defining propulsion technologies
• Defining the EP concept: EP architecture conceptualization, morphological matrices, Modes of benefit and basic trades, defining a CONOPS – Examples, Pre-Design filtering and selection
• Power system modeling and representation: Schematics, Powertrain modeling approaches, Available tools, Standard performance parameters and definitions, units, nomenclature, etc.
• Vehicle modeling and representation: Energy storage modeling, Mission(s): Flight segments, Power management, Propulsion-Airframe Integration
• Calculating metrics: Energy specific air range, Fuel burn, Energy, ICAO CO2, Life-cycle CO2, TOFL, energy, DOC, NOx, etc.
• AIAA Standard reporting parameters for presentation of results
• Example Assessment Results

5. Study Examples & Wrap Up

• Summary of selected historical and recent system studies
• Current challenges and future research and technology needs

Soft copy course notes will be made available 3-5 days prior to the course event. You will receive an email with detailed instructions on how to access your course notes. Since these notes will not be distributed on site, AIAA and your course instructor highly recommend that you bring your computer with the course notes already downloaded.

Dr. Reynard de Vries is Chief Engineer & co-founder of Elysian Aircraft, and a visiting researcher at Delft University of Technology. He holds a BSc and MSc degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid and Delft University of Technology, respectively. Reynard has performed research in the European Commission’s Clean Sky 2 framework for large passenger aircraft, where he worked on conceptual design methods for hybrid-electric aircraft and propeller-wing aerodynamics in distributed-propulsion systems as a part of his PhD research. He has been actively involved in numerous wind-tunnel tests of various (distributed-) propeller configurations. Reynard currently leads R&D activities and teaches courses in the fields of hybrid/electric aircraft design and propeller aerodynamics. Reynard is a member of the AIAA Electrified Aircraft Technology Technical Committee.

Dr. Matthew Clarke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois. He joined the department in 2023 after completing a PhD from Stanford University in 2022 and a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT. His research interests include aircraft design, aerodynamics, and aeroacoustics, with a keen focus on studying novel hybrid/all-electric propulsion architectures for electric vehicles for regional and urban air mobility. Professor Clarke is the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory for Electric Aircraft Design and Sustainability (LEADS), whose core mission is to leverage multi-physics computational modeling and laboratory experimentation of innovative energy systems to elucidate the implications of incorporating advanced propulsion architectures into next-generation aerospace systems that satisfy certification and reliability requirements. He was recently listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Science 2024 for his contributions to aerospace engineering and aircraft design.

Mr. Charles Lents, Retired, Thermal Management Discipline Lead, Raytheon Technologies Research Center, has thirty years of experience in the conceptual design of integrated aircraft primary and secondary power and thermal management systems.  At RTRC, Chuck led a team in the development of an integrated modeling environment for the study of integrated total aircraft power systems and their impact on air vehicle performance.  He has led several studies investigating power and thermal management solutions for a range of commercial and military vehicles. Chuck led RTRC’s Innovative Propulsion project, studying and developing high altitude and alternative small engine propulsion systems and RTRCs NASA funded Parallel Hybrid Propulsion System Technology Development program. He has experience in a diverse set of technical areas, including thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, turbo-machinery, heat transfer, power electronics cooling, systems integration and aircraft secondary power systems, reliability, risk/uncertainty analysis and life-cycle cost modeling. Chuck is currently a High School Math Educator in Meriden CT where he teaches Algebra 1 and 2. Chuck received his B.S.M.E from the University of Illinois in 1982, his M.S.M.E. from Purdue University in 1984, and his teaching credentials from Northern Illinois University in 1999.

Dr. Jonathan Gladin is a Senior Research Engineer at the Aerospace Systems Design Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech.  He has worked as a research engineer at ASDL since 2015 and is the division chief for the propulsion and energy group.  His work is heavily focused in the area of advanced propulsion systems design and analysis, with a focus on advanced cycles, electrified aircraft, propulsion airframe integration, zero emissions/hydrogen aircraft, and sustainable aviation. He has been involved with many NASA funded projects related to the conceptual design of various advanced concepts including two recently funded university initiatives to research zero emission aircraft concepts with alternative fuels.