Swapnil Jagtap is an innovator of disruptive technologies in the aviation and energy (A&E) industry. He is a President’s PhD Scholar at the prestigious Imperial College London, holding engineering degrees from Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Mumbai. At 31, he is already a leader and distinguished researcher and has created a unique and highly interdisciplinary research niche of ‘sustainable A&E’, with one USA patent (sole inventor), and 16 high-impact publications (eight are solo authored).
Swapnil’s work reflects his grit, commitment, passion, and vision of decarbonising the A&E industry. A New-York ↔ Mumbai return flight emits a similar amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) an average car in the USA/UK emits annually. Aviation contributes to 5% of all man-made climate impacts, and 16,000 air-pollution-related premature deaths annually. Swapnil has extensively examined futuristic aircraft technologies and energy-vectors including their lifecycle impacts towards zero and/or negative GHG emissions intercontinental flight. He has invented a path-breaking design of a futuristic 300-passenger long-range liquid hydrogen aircraft which could bring a paradigm shift in the A&E industry because it produces zero-carbon and near-zero air-pollution while operating. His pioneering design could improve aircraft’s energy efficiency by over 50% and generate lesser contrails (climate impact) and noise than Boeing-777. This ground-breaking design will reinvent and revolutionise the A&E industry and drive future policy making, because it causes near-zero climate and human and environmental health impacts.
Swapnil is building the foundations of the future low-carbon A&E industry via sustainable innovation. He has been recognised as a Forbes 30 under 30 visionary and disrupter (2020 Europe list), and Georgia Tech 40 under 40 innovator, trendsetter, and people to watch (2021). He has been recognised with 30+ international honours/distinctions including three fellowships, five scholarships and eight travel grants, for his academic excellence and extraordinary people-and-planet centric research contributions at prestigious world universities, which are credible testimonials of his positive societal and environmental impact and global influence.
