Overview of RTX Technology Research Center with Project Highlights

ABSTRACT

RTX Technology Research Center (RTRC) was founded in 1929 to solve the hardest problems in the aerospace industry. Since then, it has continued to do so. This talk will briefly introduce RTX, and provide a more detailed introduction to RTRC, including our approach to industry-academia partnerships, and opportunities for graduate student internships and full-time positions. We will then describe in detail two example projects. The first is optimal energy management for a hybrid electric airplane. Decarbonization of aviation is one of the most difficult technical challenges of our society, and RTX is at the forefront. To ensure optimal use of a battery in a parallel hybrid propulsion system, we leverage nonlinear Model Predictive Control accelerated by machine learning. The other application is a system for measuring aeromechanical damping in turbomachinery, which is a more physical criterion for flutter than traditional flutter mapping. The presentation will cover the design of a next-generation high-frequency piezoelectric valve for this system, which exemplifies RTRC’s approach to industry-academia-government partnership.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Milos Ilak leads the Dynamics, Control, and Autonomy team at the RTX Technology Research Center in East Hartford, CT, where he has been since 2011. His main focus is propulsion control. Prior to this, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He received his PhD in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University in 2009, and his B.S. in Engineering and B.A. in Physics from Swarthmore College in 2004.

For questions about the speaker, contact Prof. Gizem Acar