Embry-Riddle Professor Awarded $500,000 Federal Grant for Structures Innovation in Next-Generation Electric Aircraft

Dr. Saman Farhangdoust, assistant professor of Aerospace Engineering, has received a $500,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop a novel technology that integrates batteries into the structural components of next-generation electric aircraft, such as those involved in advanced air mobility (AAM), to increase range and enhance safety.

Farhangdoust described battery storage as a “critical challenge” in AAM aircraft, such as air taxis. Battery-powered aircraft, including electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), have limited energy storage capacity, restricting their range.

The proposal by Farhangdoust aims to integrate batteries into aircraft structural components, such as wing ribs and other load-bearing structures. The approach, which introduces a new class of battery systems designed to improve system-level energy density and safety, uses “4D printing,” — a technology that, unlike 3D printing, enables structural components to adapt to fluctuations, such as pressure.

“The technology would unlock significant additional space for energy storage and, accordingly, extend flight endurance significantly,” Farhangdoust said.

“It has the potential to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry,” he added, noting the potential of air taxis to reduce emissions, ease ground traffic at airports and transport people and goods in rural areas.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) awarded the grant to Farhangdoust through its Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy (IGNIITE) program, which supports exceptional early-career energy innovators and is considered one of the top national early-career awards. The grants are “directed towards individuals whose work demonstrates the potential to translate disruptive, unconventional, high-risk, high-reward concepts into transformative technological advancements,” according to an agency press release.

“This award is especially meaningful as it empowers early-career faculty to pursue bold, unconventional ideas that are often too high-risk for traditional funding, yet hold transformative potential,” said Farhangdoust, who is the director of the Smart and Multifunctional Meta-Structures research group and came to Embry-Riddle in the fall of 2024. “Programs like IGNIITE recognize that innovative concepts at their early stages require both vision and support to mature, and this grant enables us to take that critical step forward.”

Farhangdoust is the first faculty member at the university to receive an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy award. Dr. Anouck Girard, professor and chair of the Aerospace Engineering Department, said that Embry-Riddle is “incredibly proud of Dr. Farhangdoust for earning this highly competitive national award,” which reflects the department’s commitment to fostering high-impact, forward-looking research.

“This award recognizes not only Dr. Farhangdoust’s exceptional creativity, but also the transformative potential of his research,” Girard added. “Integrating energy storage directly into aircraft structures represents a paradigm shift that could significantly advance the future of electric aviation.”