2/21/2023 Debra Levey Larson
Written by Debra Levey Larson
For his outstanding contributions to electrified aircraft technologies and pioneering work toward sustainable aviation, Phillip J. Ansell is the recipient of the 2023 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Lawrence Sperry Award. As this is one of AIAA’s premier awards, Ansell will be honored at a gala this spring at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
The award is presented for a notable contribution made by a young person, age 35 or under, to the advancement of aeronautics or astronautics. This award honors Lawrence B. Sperry, pioneer aviator and inventor, who died in 1923 in a forced landing while attempting a flight across the English Channel.
Ansell joined the faculty in the Department of Aerospace Engineering in 2015. From the start, he was highly focused on electrification and sustainability, beginning with a NASA-sponsored study aimed to analyze and understand how hybrid-electric propulsion strategies could be leveraged to reduce environmental impact of future aircraft concepts. This prescient work has continued to be instrumental in the ongoing revolution of electrified aircraft propulsion systems.
His research leadership is most evident in the Center for High-Efficiency Electrical Technologies for Aircraft, a multi-disciplinary research consortium he leads under the NASA University Leadership Initiative project. In this capacity, Ansell orchestrates efforts spanning nine universities, two industry partners, and a government research lab. Formed in 2019, this consortium has been a thought leader looking beyond tomorrow to the challenges toward hydrogen-electric aircraft systems. Until recently, this was the only NASA-sponsored program focusing on hydrogen use in aviation, which has now garnered interest internationally across the aviation community.
Ansell also leads a new initiative at the University of Illinois through the foundation of the Center for Sustainable Aviation. As the director of the center, he will continue to make substantial advances in holistic sustainability of the aviation industry.
He has served as technical chair, deputy chair, or general chair for every AIAA/IEEE Electric Aircraft Technologies Symposium event since its inception. In 2020, he formed the AIAA Electrified Aircraft Technology Technical Committee as its inaugural chair.
His research has earned him several prestigious awards, including Young Investigator Awards from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and Army Research Office, selection in the 2016 Forbes 30 under 30, the Penn State Engineering Young Alumni Achievement Award, and research excellence awards from the University of Illinois. He is also consistently listed on Illinois’ List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students and received the Teacher of the Year award by the UIUC Undergraduate AIAA Student Chapter in 2020.
Last year, he received The Grainger College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award, an award granted annually to just one faculty member across our entire Grainger College of Engineering, which consists of over 400 faculty across 12 departments.
For the full list of 2023 premier AIAA awards, visit AIAA’s website.