Vasan Iyer

Who are you and what is your research topic?
I am a researcher at DLR in the Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems, working
towards my PhD in the SE²A Cluster under Prof. Peter Wierach (Multifunctional Materials department,
DLR). My research topic is Structural energy storage, which deals with creating new structural
composites which can simultaneously stores energy as well as provide structural integrity.

Which research question are you working on?
How to develop structural battery composites made using abundantly available materials (such as Na,
Mg etc.) as charge carriers?

What makes this topic special/exciting for you?
Creating new materials with multiple characteristics is an emerging and exciting area of research.
Multifunctional materials, as the name suggests perform more than one function. The structural battery
composites have the ability to store energy in addition to providing structural integrity. This greatly
saves overall system mass and has numerous applications right from mobile phones to spacecraft. This
could act as a game changer for many transportation areas, and could result in new design philosophy
for future cars, aircraft etc.

Why is your topic relevant for future aviation?
This topic has the potential to contribute for future electric aircraft. It is expected that many structural
components in future cars, aircraft etc. will also store energy that can be used for electrification of many
sub-systems. This essentially reduces all kinds of emissions making transportation cleaner.