Abstract
In the mid 2000’s NASA challenged the aeronautics industry to identify the routes for achieving ambitious improvements in fuel burn, emission, and noise reductions. These so-called “N+3” studies were exploring broad changes three commercial aircraft generations, or nominally 30 years, in the future. Many intriguing propulsion-airframe integrated solutions were proposed and pursued, which incorporated technologies such as high-aspect-ratio wings, boundary-layer ingestion, and hybrid-electric power-trains. This talk summarizes the approaches and achievements from the Hybrid Gas-Electric Propulsion Concept Technical Challenge that concluded in 2019. The balanced portfolio of concepts studies anchored with practical technology development demonstrated that electrified aircraft propulsion is an aircraft revolution whose time has come.
Biography
Dr. Cheryl Bowman has worked at NASA Glenn Research Center for 30 years conducting component-focused, structural materials research. Cheryl served as a co-Technical Lead for Hybrid Gas Electric Propulsion under the Advanced Air Transportation Technology Project with the responsibility of coordinating vehicle system, electric drive system, and materials development research. She is currently the Deputy Branch Chief for the High Temperature and Smart Alloys Branch at GRC. Cheryl started her career working on turbine engine components then spent ten years as a materials development lead for fission power conversion within the Space Mission Directorate. She received a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, a M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a dual B.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering and Engineering Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.