Students Tackle One of Electric Aviation’s Biggest Challenges

Embry-Riddle undergraduates will travel to Brazil to explore strategies for cooling electric aircraft batteries.

Jack Daleo

Saturday, October 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

This Diamond HK-36, retrofitted to run on electric power, is just one model that requires electric battery cooling systems. [Courtesy: Embry‑Riddle/David Massey]

Key Takeaways:

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, supported by a $450,000 NSF grant, is collaborating with Brazil's Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) to send students to research thermal management for electric aircraft batteries.
The collaboration aims to address the critical challenge of keeping electric aircraft batteries cool, as overheating can lead to fires, explosions, and degraded performance, particularly during energy-intensive flight phases.
Students will focus on innovative cooling strategies, including the use of phase-change materials (PCMs) that absorb heat by converting from solid to liquid, to maintain stable battery temperatures.

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Over the next three years, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will send cohorts of students to Brazil to study one of the most pressing challenges facing electric aircraft: thermal management.

The university on Friday announced a collaboration with Brazil’s Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) that will send students on 8- to 10-week trips in pursuit of strategies to keep electric aircraft batteries cool.