Biography:

Kaushik Rajashekara (Fellow, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. In 1989, he joined the Delphi division of General Motors Corporation in Indianapolis, USA, as a Staff Project Engineer. In Delphi and General Motors, he held various lead technical and managerial positions, and was a Technical Fellow and the Chief Scientist for developing propulsion and power electronics systems for electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicle systems. In 2006, he joined Rolls-Royce Corporation, as a Chief Technologist for electric systems for electric and hybrid aircraft systems. In August 2012, he joined as a Distinguished Professor of Engineering with the University of Texas at Dallas, TX, USA. Since September 2016, he has been a Distinguished Professor of engineering in University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. He has authored or coauthored over 300 papers in international journals and conferences, has 37 US and 15 foreign patents, and has written one book. He has given over 200 invited presentations in international conferences and universities.  He has received a number of awards including the 2022 Global Energy Prize, 2021 IEEE Medal on Environment & Safety Technologies, and 2013 IEEE Richard Harold Kaufmann Award for his contributions to electrification of transportation and renewable energy.  He was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2012, , a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2015, and an International Fellow of Indian (2013), Chinese (2021), and Japanese (2024) Academies of Engineering. His research interests include power/energy conversion, transportation electrification, renewable energy, and microgrid systems.

Present and future trends in electrification of transportation

Kaushik Rajashekara

University of Houston, Texas

USA 

The transportation industry is facing challenges in terms of improving emissions and fuel economy, and at the same time reducing the overall cost.  The trend is towards replacing mechanical and pneumatic systems with electrical systems, thus transitioning toward “more electric” architectures and electric/hybrid propulsion systems.  To meet these challenges in the automotive industry, significant work has been done in the areas of electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles.  In the case of airplanes, more electric architecture , fuel cell, and hybrid propulsion strategies are the emerging trends.  Recently, there is also an increasing interest in flying cars, and Electrical vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOL) to be used as air taxis. Similar strategies have been adopted in Marine propulsion systems also. This presentation examines present trends and advancements in electric/hybrid vehicles, electric and hybrid aircrafts, hydrogen-based systems, and flying cars/VTOL vehicles.  In addition, recent trends in the enabling technologies, power electronics and electric motors, for the advancement of the electrified transportation will be briefly presented.

Biography:

Kaushik Rajashekara (Fellow, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. In 1989, he joined the Delphi division of General Motors Corporation in Indianapolis, USA, as a Staff Project Engineer. In Delphi and General Motors, he held various lead technical and managerial positions, and was a Technical Fellow and the Chief Scientist for developing propulsion and power electronics systems for electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicle systems. In 2006, he joined Rolls-Royce Corporation, as a Chief Technologist for electric systems for electric and hybrid aircraft systems. In August 2012, he joined as a Distinguished Professor of Engineering with the University of Texas at Dallas, TX, USA. Since September 2016, he has been a Distinguished Professor of engineering in University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. He has authored or coauthored over 300 papers in international journals and conferences, has 37 US and 15 foreign patents, and has written one book. He has given over 200 invited presentations in international conferences and universities.  He has received a number of awards including the 2022 Global Energy Prize, 2021 IEEE Medal on Environment & Safety Technologies, and 2013 IEEE Richard Harold Kaufmann Award for his contributions to electrification of transportation and renewable energy.  He was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2012, , a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2015, and an International Fellow of Indian (2013), Chinese (2021), and Japanese (2024) Academies of Engineering. His research interests include power/energy conversion, transportation electrification, renewable energy, and microgrid systems.