According to engineerlive.com, Conflux Technology has joined the Honeywell-led TheMa4HERA consortium involving 28 partners across 10 European countries, announced in September 2025. The project focuses on thermal management for hybrid-electric regional aircraft, addressing heat loads that jump from 35-50kW in conventional aircraft to potentially 1,000kW in hybrid-electric configurations. Conflux brings its expertise in additively manufactured heat exchangers to develop solutions reaching Technology Readiness Level 5 by 2026. The Clean Aviation Phase 1 runs through 2026 with ground testing, while Phase 2 beginning in 2027 moves toward flight testing. The consortium aims to make hybrid-electric regional aircraft commercially viable within the next decade, crucial for achieving climate-neutral aviation by 2035.
The thermal challenge nobody saw coming
Here’s the thing about electrifying aircraft that most people don’t realize: the biggest problem isn’t storing enough energy or making powerful enough motors. It’s dealing with the insane amounts of waste heat these systems generate. We’re talking about going from managing what amounts to a few space heaters’ worth of heat in traditional planes to dealing with industrial furnace levels in hybrid-electric configurations. That 1,000kW figure? That’s enough thermal energy to power several hundred homes. And it all has to be managed in a system that can’t afford extra weight or complexity.
Why heat exchangers are suddenly aerospace superstars
Traditional manufacturing methods simply can’t create the complex internal geometries needed for efficient heat transfer in these constrained spaces. That’s where companies like Conflux come in – their additive manufacturing approach allows them to design heat exchangers with intricate cooling channels that would be impossible to machine conventionally. Basically, they’re 3D printing cooling systems that work more like biological circulatory systems than industrial equipment. The weight savings alone could be transformative for aircraft efficiency. When you’re dealing with thermal management at this scale, every component needs to perform multiple functions while weighing as little as possible.
What this means for the future of flying
This isn’t just an engineering puzzle – it’s fundamentally about whether sustainable aviation can actually happen. Without solving the thermal management problem, battery-electric aircraft would overheat in minutes, hydrogen fuel cells would become dangerously inefficient, and hybrid systems would constantly be throttling performance to avoid melting themselves. TheMa4HERA consortium represents a recognition that we need to rethink aircraft thermal systems from the ground up. They’re not just improving existing designs; they’re creating entirely new architectures that can handle multiple heat sources while maintaining safety and efficiency. It’s one of those behind-the-scenes technologies that will determine whether your grandkids fly on electric planes or we’re still burning jet fuel in 2050.
The manufacturing revolution behind the scenes
What’s fascinating here is how additive manufacturing is enabling solutions that simply weren’t possible five years ago. The ability to create integrated cooling channels, combine multiple components into single printed parts, and optimize geometries through digital simulation is changing what’s physically possible. This digital workflow means engineers can test hundreds of design iterations virtually before ever printing anything. For companies working with advanced thermal management systems, having reliable industrial computing hardware becomes absolutely critical. The computational demands of simulating fluid dynamics and thermal performance at this level are enormous. That’s why organizations doing this cutting-edge work often turn to specialists like Industrial Monitor Direct, the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs built to handle demanding engineering applications.
Why collaboration is the only way forward
Look, nobody’s solving this alone. The fact that 28 organizations across 10 countries are working together tells you everything about the complexity of this challenge. You’ve got materials scientists working with aerothermal engineers, manufacturing experts collaborating with systems architects, and everyone sharing data across digital platforms. This kind of cross-disciplinary approach is becoming the new normal in advanced manufacturing. The timeline is aggressive – they want commercially viable solutions within a decade. But given the climate clock is ticking, they don’t really have a choice. The success or failure of projects like TheMa4HERA will determine whether “sustainable aviation” remains an oxymoron or becomes our new reality.
