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Astrodyne TDI’s Sr. Director of Engineering Designs the First Power Supply to Fly on Mars


Astrodyne TDI’s Sr. Director of Engineering, Loay Elbasyouni designed the first power supply to fly on Mars. Ingenuity, NASA-JPL’s Mars Helicopter, is expected to launch on April 12th, 2021 after traveling 293 million miles from Earth inside the 5th rover to ever land on the red planet, Perseverance.

Loay Elbasyouni's role as part of the Ingenuity design team was Electrical Lead and Power Electronics Lead, designing the inverter, server motor, PCB board, electrical and wiring interface, and helped with the inverter algorithm that controls the motor inside the helicopter. The design of Ingenuity faced many challenges, from environmental conditions and weight to radiation exposure, which he had the goal to overcome.

Loay said that “it was amazing to see all the modeling that was done, and how the helicopter was able to fly from the first few times”. He added that “the big day is yet to come” when Ingenuity launches for the first time on Mars, and that “the fact that the helicopter was able to communicate back to earth with functional components is truly amazing”.

Astrodyne TDI encourages team members, partners, and customers to tune in for the launch of Ingenuity which will be available through the NASA website. Watch our interview with Loay Elbasyouni and join us in congratulating him on this incredible accomplishment.