This is the February 2024 status report from the NexGen Heat Pumping Solutions Team of the IEEE Richmond Section.

A team of Virginia Commonwealth University students (Micaiah Akyeampong, Kamau Bey, Thomas Pierce, and Vincent Mazzochette), under the direction of Dr. Radhika Barua, noted that using the magnetocaloric effect for heating and cooling could save vast amounts of energy over the current reliance on refrigerants and compressors, while also eliminating the need for high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. Various attempts to create practical magnetocaloric effect heat pumps have encountered problems which might be addressed by 3D printing the heat exchangers. Unfortunately, 3D printer filaments containing magnetocaloric substances are not currently available. The group’s grant from IEEE Region 3 provided partial funding to work on creating such filaments. Click here to watch a video that introduces each of the team members and that provides a status update on the project..