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 and Brazil's Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) are collaborating on a National Science Foundation-funded initiative to research thermal management for electric aircraft batteries.
The research addresses the critical challenge of preventing battery overheating in electric aircraft, which can cause fires, explosions, or degraded performance, while also mitigating inefficiencies like "cooling drag."
Student cohorts from Embry-Riddle will travel to Brazil to focus on developing and testing solutions, particularly focusing on phase-change materials for passive heat absorption.

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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.