The VPPC ’11 conference held in Downtown Chicago at the JW
Marriott Hotel brought together individuals from academia, industry and
government to discuss and exchange ideas in the fields of sustainable
transportation systems, electric, hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles as well as air, space, sea and undersea vehicles.
Dr. Ali Emadi opened the program sharing his vision for a
future powering sustainable transportation through electricity. “Transportation
is at the center of this challenge and electrification of vehicles is the best
sustainable solution to move forward. There is in fact already evolving
paradigm shift in transportation. Electricity is cleaner, greener, more
affordable and domestically produced.”
Attendees traveled from throughout the world to hear the
state of Vehicle Power and Propulsion both at present and for the future.
A sampling of their impressions is below:
Eamon Keane (photo below at left), a PhD. Candidate from the University College
Dublin is working on his thesis which looks into the possible contribution of
electric vehicles to short term power system flexibility. Eamon enjoyed the ,
“focus on electric vehicles as well as the multi-disciplinary approach
presented at the VPPC ’11.”
Will Midgley (photo at right on right), a PhD. Candidate from the University of Cambridge
is working on his thesis which looks into Regenerative Braking in Urban
Delivery Vehicles. Will was, “looking for a broader presentation of propulsion
technologies including air, motor and hydraulics but enjoyed the focus on
Electric means of propulsion.”
Dr. Nick Nagel (pictured at left), Director of Research & Development at
Triumph Aerospace Systems presented a short course on Electric Machines and
Drives. In a spare moment between breakout sessions, Nick commented, “I thought
the conference was well attended and enjoyed having the opportunity to present
to the well informed group of industry professionals.”
Chasse Alexandre (pictured at right) of IFP Energies Nouvelles works in
public-sector
research, innovation and training for the energy, transport and
environmental fields. Enjoying a number of the breakout sessions, when probed
if there was one session he found more informative than another Chasse
answered, “Not Especially, each session was informative for the intended
audience.”
For a recap of the VPPC’ 11 or to peek at the final program,
visit HERE.
