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Aero Design Team

Team Web page

Team after winning East Regionals 2007


team photo

 

contest photo

team at contest

contest

 

COMPETITIONS

2011

SAE Aero Design® East

Michigan Tech Team 027 4th Overall

Operational Availability Results Regular Class: 3rd Place

SAE Aero Design® West

Michigan Tech Team 02 23rd Overall


2010

SAE Aero West 2010

Michigan Tech Team 28
March 5-7, 2010, Van Nuys, CA
2nd Place Overall
(out of 29 teams)
2nd in Team Technical Presentation
2nd in Most Payload
Award of Excellence

2007 Aero Design World Champions

2007
1st in East, 3rd in West
News

2005
11th overall
News

2004
9th overall (East)
10th overall (West)
Best design report
News

2001
The 2001 team placed seventeenth out of thirty-five teams in competition.

About the Program

The Aero Design Competition challenges engineering students to conceive, design, fabricate, and test a remote piloted aircraft.

The challenge of the project is to design the plane within competition parameters to carry as much weight as possible.

The team competes in an annual competition, sponsored in part by the Society of Automotive Engineers, to test the design of the plane against planes from other colleges and universities.

The competition is divided into two parts—design and flight. In the design event, competitors present their design and demonstrate the accuracy of their calculations in predicting the maximum payload they can lift. The flight event determines which aircraft can lift the most weight.

Judging criteria included originality of the design, lifting capabilities, quality and innovation of construction techniques, and engineering calculations. In past years the Aero design team has remained rather small, with an average of five to seven members. This year’s team is almost three times this size, with more than fifteen members. With this increased participation, the team is seeking to build multiple planes and attend both East and West competitions.

The team uses unique technology to stand out in competition. Composites are integrated more and more into the design and their use leads to lighter and stronger airframes. The 2001 design also utilized vacuum bagging technology to more effectively integrate composites into the design.

The fuselage frame was one piece and constructed entirely out of carbon fiber, weighing only ten ounces. This technology is going to be pursued further, with use in more elements of the plane. Future design work is expected to include wind tunnel research and engine thrust and drag testing.

November 30, 2011