Upcoming Seminars

09.19.25 Ric Duncanson – Marc-Antoni Racing

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Hybrid-Electric Propulsion System For Commercial And Military Aircrafts

Date: September 19, 2025; Time: 2:30 PM Location: PWEB 175

Abstract: Decarbonizing long-haul air travel is essential to climate change mitigation but remains difficult because present alternatives to fossil fuels are constrained by energy density, mass, packaging, infrastructure, manufacturing readiness, and entrenched operating practices. Hybrid-electric propulsion offers a pragmatic near term pathway by pairing high-specific-energy liquid fuels with electric machines and power electronics to cut fuel burn and emissions while enabling novel engine airframe integration. Our discussions examines how the aerospace and defense start-up Marc-Antoni is developing a hybrid-electric propulsion system for single-aisle aircraft and evaluate its commercial viability across performance, weight, safety, certification, maintainability, and cost. The analysis focuses on core technologies, high efficiency generators and motors, propulsion system configurations, energy storage, and outlines a maturation roadmap. Our discussions also assesses defense applications. Confronted by growing threats from unmanned aerial systems and advanced missiles, the U.S. military is increasing its demand for non-kinetic, high-speed effects such as directed-energy weapons. These systems are limited by onboard power generation, power quality, and heat rejection. We will explore hybrid-electric architectures which could be adapted to combat aircrafts to provide higher continuous and pulsed electrical power with improved thermal margins, thereby enabling advanced electronic warfare and directed-energy capabilities.

Biographical Sketch: Ric Duncanson, a serial tech entrepreneur, is the founder of Marc-Antoni, an aerospace & defense start-up developing hybrid electric propulsion systems for civil and military aviation applications. Ric is an expert in technology transfer and the evaluation of intellectual property for commercialization, as evidenced by his acquisition of over 10 patents, ranging from lithium-ion cell components to a novel turbofan design. From 2017 to 2020, Ric was a member of the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC) program where he developed a robotic steering system for high-performance autonomous vehicles, as well as a four-motor full-torque vectoring all-wheel-drive system for high-performance electric race cars. Currently, Marc-Antoni is a member of the University of Connecticut (UConn) Technology Incubator Program (TIP), where the company is developing several research & development projects, including Titanium Niobium Oxide (TNO) lithium-ion cell, partially superconducting machines, and a superconducting turbofan. Although not a formally trained engineer or scientist, Ric considers himself an autodidact, having cultivated profound expertise in the engineering and scientific principles of the various subject matters associated with his innovations.

10.24.25 Dr. Jaime C. Grunlan – Texas A&M University

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Protective Nanocoatings from Polyelectrolytes: Flame Retardancy, Gas Barrier, and High Voltage Insulation

Date: October 24, 2025; Time: 2:30 PM Location: PWEB 175

Abstract: Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly is a conformal coating technology capable of imparting a multiplicity of functionalities on nearly any type of surface in a relatively environmentally friendly way. At its core, LbL is a solution deposition technique in which layers of cationic and anionic materials (e.g. nanoparticles, polymers and even biological molecules) are built up via electrostatic attractions in an alternating fashion, while controlling process variables such as pH, coating time, and concentration. Here we are producing nanocomposite multilayers (50 – 1000 nm thick), having 10 – 96 wt% clay, that can be completely transparent, stop gas permeation, and impart extreme heat shielding to carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites. Similar multilayer coatings exhibit very high dielectric breakdown strength and good thermal conductivity, for protection of high voltage electronics. In an effort to impart flame retardant behavior to fabric using fewer processing steps, a water-soluble polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) was developed. This nanocoating is comprised of polyethylenimine and poly(sodium phosphate) and imparts self-extinguishing behavior to cotton fabric in just a single coating step. Adding a melamine solution to the coating procedure as a second step renders nylon-cotton blends self-extinguishing. A PEC of PEI and polyacrylic acid is able to achieve an oxygen transmission rate below 0.005 cm3/m2/day at 100%RH and a thickness of just 2 m. This is an all-polymer foil replacement technology. Examples of bio-based polyelectrolytes (e.g., chitosan and phytic acid), being used for these same applications, will be shown. These coating techniques can be deposited using roll-to-roll processing (e.g., flexographic printing, dip-coating, or spray-coating). Opportunities and challenges will be discussed. Our work in these areas has been highlighted in C&EN, ScienceNews, Nature, Smithsonian Magazine, Chemistry World and various scientific news outlets worldwide.  For more information, please visit my website: https://grunlan-nanocomposites.com/

Biographical Sketch: Dr. Jaime Grunlan is the Leland T. Jordan ’29 Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, where he has worked for more than 20 years. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry. He is a world leader in organic thermoelectric materials, super gas barrier layers, and environmentally-benign, flame retardant nanocoatings. He holds 17 issued U.S. patents and several EU patents. He has published more than 230 journal papers, with more than 29,000 citations. His work has been highlighted in Smithsonian Magazine, Nature, and the New York Times. He is an Editor of the Journal of Materials Science and Progress in Organic Coatings, and Associate Editor of Green Materials. In 2018, Prof. Grunlan became a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (FASME) and was awarded a doctorate honoris causa (i.e. honorary doctorate) from the University of South Brittany (Lorient, France). In 2023, he became a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (FACS). In 2024, he became Fellow of the Polymer Chemistry (POLY) and Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Divisions of ACS. He also became a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (FNAI) in 2024.

10.10.25 Dr. Sean Bradshaw – Pratt & Whitney

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Powering the Future

Date: October 10, 2025; Time: 2:30 PM Location: PWEB 175

Abstract: Projected demand growth in the aviation sector over the next quarter century is driving the need for greater aircraft fuel efficiency and lower noise footprint.  This presentation will provide a brief overview of Pratt & Whitney’s approach to powering the future of flight, including geared turbofans, hybrid-electric propulsion, technical evaluations of synthetic aviation fuels, and supporting industry collaborations through ASTM on rigorous standards that would enable the commercial use of 100% synthetic aviation fuels.

Biographical Sketch: Dr. Sean Bradshaw is a senior technical fellow at Pratt & Whitney, where his primary focus is the development of advanced propulsion technologies that will power the future of flight. Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture, and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units. He also provides strategic and technical leadership to the aviation industry by serving as: the chair of the ASME Committee on Sustainability, an associate editor of the ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, a member of the ASME Heat Transfer Committee, and a member of the Aeronautics & Space Engineering Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Sean earned a B.S., an M.S., and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics & Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.