The process of moving energy around

One of the things that Rod Bayliss III ’20, MEng ’21, fondly remembers from his childhood was his father’s Ford Mustang of 1964. “I was fascinated by this car,” says Bayliss. “Especially with the engine, the thing that turned air and oil into electricity.”

Bayliss grew up in Augusta, Georgia. Mathematics and physics came to him easily, and in high school he developed a love for Latin, Greek, and arguments. He commented: “I was fascinated by Latin rules, sentences, and punctuation. It reminded me of solving technical problems. ”

Bayliss’s parents, both of whom have a degree in engineering, encouraged her to consider the possibility of a career in electrical engineering. At MIT, he signed up to work with Professor David Perreault, SM ’91, PhD ’97, on his research in electronic research through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP).

“At the time I still thought I wanted to work on the engine,” Bayliss says. “But in that UROP I got an electrical appliance. The process of moving energy around. That was the name of the game, and I love it. ”

After learning how electricity is stored, stored, and modified, he began developing an inductor — a device capable of storing large amounts of electrical energy — capable of producing frequent waves, a key element in the production of ultrafine silicon chips. He explains: “You put gas in a room and then use the radios to convert the air into plasma. “Then you run the plasma to make tumors. To do that you need a lot of energy.”

After completing his undergraduate degree for three and a half years, Bayliss remained at MIT – and continued to refine the inductor – for an additional year, earning a master’s degree in January 2021. He is now a doctoral program at the University of California, Berkeley City.

Appropriately, he is back to his original building site: motors. In particular, it is exploring new ways to conserve electrical energy and transform it into a form that can drive an aircraft engine accurately. Last March at the Black Alumni / ae of MIT (BAMIT) slam, an online competition where students presented their research to the judges, the project received Bayliss first prize.

Bayliss knows his goal is a challenge. “It’s a lot harder to pilot a plane with electricity than oil,” he says. “Batteries are heavy. And the consequences of system failure — from the battery to the inverter to the motor — overnight between planes can be catastrophic. But we are fixing the electrical power supply to make it possible. ”