Abstract:
While the technological limits of battery are constantly being pushed, their energy density is still too low to enable passenger flight beyond urban distances. Further, the gradual but slow rate of improvement of battery energy density over the last decade suggests this issue is here to stay. Hydrogen – which has 100 times higher energy density that Li ion batteries – has clear potential as the best solution for zero emission flights at regional and beyond regional ranges. This lecture will explore the fundamental engineering, organizational and societal tradeoffs of the future worldwide hydrogen aviation industry. The lecture will also present the successes of Joby Aviation’s liquid hydrogen VTOL, a first-of-its-kind aircraft that completed record flights up to 560 miles of range.
Bio:
Raffaele Nicholas Russo is Business Manager, New Technologies at Joby Aviation. Reporting directly to the CEO, he crafts the strategic roadmap for new hydrogen aircraft. He was project lead for the first VTOL liquid hydrogen aircraft, which flew 560 miles in 2024, and conducted the first known Life Cycle Analysis of an eVTOL aircraft, as summarized in the published book Sustainability Engineering, Chapter 13, in 2023. Raffaele Nicholas first joined Joby Aviation in 2018 as lead for the Thermal Engineering team.
Other experiences include time at Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team, UP Partners – an early-stage advanced air mobility Venture Capital fund, and Tesla, where Raffaele Nicholas co-patented and developed into production the High Aspect ratio vents currently on 6+ million vehicles.
He received his B.A. and M.Eng with Distinction from the University of Cambridge, and his MBA from Harvard Business School.