Micro-Seminar: The Death of the Internal Combustion Engine - Truth or Myth? PART ONE

Micro-Seminars have two parts. Attendance to both parts is required. Registering for the PART ONE session will automatically enroll you in the PART TWO session on Friday.

Part 1: Thursday, August 22, 2024 from 3:00 – 4:30 pm (PST)
Part 2: Friday, August 23, 2024 from 10:00 – 11:30 am (PST)

Hydrocarbon-fueled Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs), including reciprocating-piston engines, gas turbines and rockets, have been the preferred form of shaft power and thrust for land, water, air, and space travel for over 100 years. Particularly with respect to automobiles, many technical and legislative attempts to eliminate ICEs have been made – but in favor of what?

Day 1: the reasons why ICEs are ubiquitous and the challenges associated with replacing them with “something else” will be reviewed. Real reciprocating-piston and gas turbine engines will be disassembled and the function of key components explained.

Day 2: New trends in fuel, engine, and vehicle technology will be discussed (e.g., battery electric vehicles, biofuels, Fischer-Tropsch fuels, hydrogen fuel cells) with an emphasis on identifying the "least environmentally irresponsible" systems for a given application.

The seminar is targeted towards students with an interest in energy and environmental issues associated with transportation systems. A Socratic dialog, rather than a one-way teacher-to-student delivery of information, will be employed.

Lead By: Professor Paul Ronney

Paul Ronney is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at USC. Prof. Ronney received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Berkeley, an MS in Aeronautics from Caltech, and a Sc.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. He held postdoctoral appointments at the NASA Lewis Research Center and the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory and a position as Assistant Professor at Princeton University before assuming his current position at USC. He was also a Payload Specialist Astronaut (Alternate) for Space Shuttle Missions STS-83 and STS-94 in 1997. Professor Ronney research areas include micro-scale combustion, turbulent combustion, internal combustion engines, microgravity combustion and fire spread. He has had experiments flown on three Space Shuttle missions. In recognition of his achievements he is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Combustion Institute, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a recipient of the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award and the Combustion Institute Distinguished Paper Award.

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