The National Science Foundation has awarded Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Dr. Jonathan Bird a $350,000 grant to research magnetic levitation for transportation purposes.

The official title of the research project is "Development of a Low-Cost Form of Maglev Transportation Using Electrodynamic Wheels."  The award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The objective of the research will be to experimentally and numerically verify that a low-cost, high-efficiency, maglev vehicle can be built. The approach is to electromechanically rotate Halbach magnetic rotors over flat passive aluminum guideways. The simultaneous rotational and translational motion of the rotors induces guideway eddy currents that can provide suspension, thrust and lateral forces for the vehicle.

Each rotor's speed and direction will be controlled in order to achieve optimal efficiency and dynamic stability. Custom designed 3D finite element code will be utilized to model the high-speed rotational and translational motion. An experimental setup utilizing at least four Halbach rotors will be built.