Johnstown, PA December 23, 2024
Welcome to this month’s "Behind the Scenes" feature, where we spotlight the people at Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) and Enterprise Ventures Corporation (EVC) who are making an impact in ways you may not see.
As engineers specializing in electrical systems, Dylan Olsick, Electrical Design Engineer, and Kevin Hillegas, Senior Electrical Engineer, are on the cutting edge of developing systems that optimize critical power and light systems for the U.S. military. Hear from them in their own words what this work means to our clients and to them.
How is your project benefiting our military?
A lot of what we do for our Air Force client is directly related to reducing fossil fuel dependency and harmful emissions from diesel- or gas-powered systems, and to provide a safer work environment for the Airmen that operate and maintain ground support equipment. Typically, a diesel generator is operated continuously while supporting aircraft electrical loads, regardless of the power required. This can result in very poor fuel burn to output power performance as well as incur additional maintenance actions and manhours maintaining the generators.
To improve flightline operations, we have successfully designed, fabricated, and tested multi-capable prototypes capable of aircraft power and light illumination using advanced batteries. The all-electric power generation prototypes operate on demand and provide much higher operational efficiencies, throughout the entire range of their rated output power. These prototypes are also designed to limit auxiliary actions to conserve energy storage. Flightline electrification also drastically decreases noise levels over traditional power generation units. Reduced noise affords better situational awareness and communication between personnel on the flightline where active aircraft are operating. We have received very positive feedback from Airmen that have used these systems, regarding improvements to working conditions, while testing at various Air Force bases.
How has CTC’s organizational support contributed to your work in advancing next-generation electric aircraft systems?
CTC’s organizational support has been an invaluable resource on advancing our work on these electrification projects. Having access to resources such as past technical reports detailing successful integration efforts and previous testing, have allowed us to better understand power requirements for a wide array of flightline aircraft, that will eventually utilize the prototypes we are developing at CTC. Additionally, having access to actual technical order load profiles for the aircraft that will be powered by our prototypes is extremely useful for proper sizing of power electronics and energy storage. We like to give our mechanical engineering counterparts (shout out to Joe Benny, Randy Smith, and Brian Rose) a hard time, but they are an invaluable and instrumental part of being successful for the Company and our client. Working closely with CTC leadership and key individuals from contracts, subcontracts, procurement, and facility resources ensures that we are producing extremely efficient designs which reduces overall costs to our clients and greatly increases their willingness to work with CTC in the future.
How has CTC’s focus on innovation and its mission and vision influenced your approach to solving technical challenges?
Working alongside industry experts and utilizing cutting edge technology helps us to foster innovation on each prototype that we produce. With our ability to fully design, manufacture and thoroughly test at our facility, allows us to identify potential problems before we transition to offsite operational testing locations. CTC’s culture towards teamwork and mission to provide our clients with robust and innovative solutions, fosters a work climate to solve any technical challenge that we may face.
How have you shared the significance of this project?
Outreach efforts for the project include working closely with our client and various Air Force Air Wings, Maintenance Groups, and Test Wings, that perform a wide variety of critical missions, in support of daily military operations around the globe. The power generation prototypes we’ve developed have been used to support these essential missions, alongside traditional diesel-powered units, so Airmen can see firsthand the benefits of an all-electric system over traditional power generation equipment. Microsoft TEAMS has also enabled for hybrid meetings; we can simultaneously accommodate clients in-person and in parallel with an audience across the Air Force Enterprise. By this method, we can socialize our good work to a larger audience and expose them to CTC capabilities and services.
How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?
Balancing work-life demands can be difficult at times while working on important projects. I like to set firm boundaries between my work and personal life ensuring that I can perform at the highest level in my role, while being able to dedicate time for family, hobbies, and activities outside of work to avoid burnout.
CTC’s culture is very supportive in balancing in the demands of high priority projects and personal life with flexible scheduling and a generous paid leave program. If something comes up in our personnel life, line managers and program managers are very supportive and understanding, to allow time away from work, so we can deal with the situation immediately.
Has this project influenced your perspective on sustainability in your personal life?
Working on this project has brought a higher degree of awareness to other areas where projects like this could be applicable. That doesn’t mean all-electric has a place in everything or it’s a one size fits all, but it exposes more possibilities where we can have the discussion of whether this makes sense. There have been times when early on, a lot of hesitation was expressed towards similar work, but once we were able to demonstrate a working solution, it was amazing to see the transition from disdain to admiration and acceptance. This work as also provided insight to improvements of working conditions surrounding battery powered equipment compared to the traditional diesel-powered generators.
