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 is collaborating with Brazil’s Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) on a $450,000 National Science Foundation-backed project.
The research focuses on thermal management for electric aircraft batteries, a critical challenge to prevent overheating, which can cause fires, explosions, or degraded performance.
Student cohorts will investigate strategies like passive heat absorption, active cooling technologies, and specifically, phase-change materials, to effectively manage battery temperatures during flight.

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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.