Design Competitions

• Undergraduate Team Space Design Competition RFP 
• Open Division Graduate/Undergraduate Missile Systems Design Competition RFP 
• Undergraduate Individual Aircraft Design Competition RFP 
• Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design Competition RFP 
• Graduate Team Aircraft Design Competition RFP 

• Team Roster & Proposal Information submitted via online submission site: 7 February 2025 (2359 hrs US Eastern Time)
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• Proposal submitted via online submission site – 16 May 2025 (2359 hrs US Eastern Time)
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• Announcement of Winners (via email) – August 2025 (Dependent on review committee schedule)

1. All student members are eligible and encouraged to participate. Team competitions will be groups of not more than ten student members per entry. Individual competitions will consist of only one student member per entry.
2. Designs submitted must be the work of the students, but guidance may come from the Faculty/Project Advisor and should be accurately acknowledged.
3. Design projects that are used as part of an organized classroom requirement are eligible and encouraged for competition.
4. More than one design may be submitted from students at any one school.
5. All student authors listed must be paid student members of AIAA.

All submissions to the competition shall be the original work of the team members.

Authors retain copyright ownership of all written works submitted to the competition. By virtue of participating in the competition, team members and report authors grant AIAA non-exclusive license to reproduce submissions, in whole or in part, for all of AIAA’s current and future print and electronic uses. Appropriate acknowledgment will accompany any reuse of materials.

It should be noted that it shall be considered a conflict of interest for a design professor to write or assist in writing RFPs and/or judging proposals submitted if (s)he will have students participating in, or that can be expected to participate in those competitions. A design professor with such a conflict must refrain from participating in the development of such competition RFPs and/or judging any proposals submitted in such competitions.

*This competition is subject to all applicable laws, including US export laws. US law prevents AIAA from awarding prize money to, or providing substantive feedback on entries from, persons residing in Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Crimea, Sudan, or Syria.

The prize money provided for the competitions is funded through the AIAA Foundation. The monetary awards may differ for each competition, with a maximum award of $1,000. The award amounts are listed below.

Update for 2023 Competitions: Only the winning (1st place) team from each competition category will receive paper certificates. Paper certificates are mailed following the announcement of competition results, and are created according to the data supplied by the team point of contact during the proposal process. One representative from the first-place team may be invited by the sponsoring technical committee to make a presentation of their design at an AIAA Forum. A travel stipend may be available for some competitions, with a maximum travel stipend of $750.00 which may be used to help with costs for flight, hotel, or conference registration to attend an AIAA Forum.

Aircraft Design Competitions

• Graduate Team Aircraft
• 1st Place: $750; 2nd Place: $550; 3rd Place: $500
• Undergraduate Team Aircraft – Thin Haul Transport and Air Taxi
• 1st Place: $750; 2nd Place: $550; 3rd Place: $500

Space Systems Design Competition

• Undergraduate Team Space Transportation
• 1st Place: $750; 2nd Place: $550; 3rd Place: $500
  

Missile Systems Design Competition

• Graduate Team Missile Systems Design Competition
• 1st Place: $750; 2nd Place: $550; 3rd Place: $500

What design software is recommended/required to enter into the competitions?
Recommended design software has been outlined in the relevant RFPs. Please refer to the RFP for more information.

How long does the final report have to be?
The final report must be no longer than 100 pages, double-spaced and in 10-point Times New Roman font. This includes all charts, figures, photographs, graphs, and references.

When will winners be announced?
Design competition winners are typically announced the following summer, however, announcement of winners is dependent on Technical Committee review and judging schedule.

How will entrants be notified of their placement in the competition?
AIAA will only notify a team of their placement if they place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in their relevant design competition. AIAA will not notify those teams that did not place.

AIAA will also send prize checks and recognition certificates following the conclusion of the competition, along with travel stipends if the relevant competition includes a trip to an AIAA Forum. For teams, prize checks will be sent payable to the winning university; for individuals, prize checks will be sent payable to the individual author on the final report.

Please note: This competition is subject to all applicable laws, including US export laws. US law prevents AIAA from awarding prize money to, or providing substantive feedback on entries from, persons residing in Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Crimea, Sudan, or Syria.

How will I be able to access judge comments and feedback on our proposal?
Feedback  will be sent to all teams via email and be made available on www.aiaa-awards.org following the conclusion of the competition.

Can I team up with students from another university? What about another country?
Yes; AIAA allows students to form teams with other students around the world.

Does everyone on my team need to be an AIAA student member?
Yes, you must all be AIAA student members. Please visit  https://www.aiaa.org/membership to join.

I have another question that hasn’t been answered in these FAQs. Where can I ask it?
If you have submitted a letter of intent to participate in design competitions, you should have received an invitation to participate in a special Engage site that we created for design competitions. If you have not received an invitation, (or have not submitted a letter but would still like to ask a question) please send an email to studentprogram@aiaa.org. 

My team roster has changed. How do I update it?
If you have submitted your Letter Of Intent (LOI), you may update your team roster by writing to studentprogram@aiaa.org. An admin must make this change for you. Please specify (1) the individuals you will be removing and (2) the names and e-mail addresses of those replacing them, if applicable. Please remember that all members of your team must be AIAA members, and membership will be verified.” 

How do we submit our final report?
All reports need to be submitted through www.aiaa-awards.org. You will need to login using your AIAA username and password, and then you will click “Needs Attention (1)” on the menu located on the left-hand side of the screen. Only the person who submitted the Letter Of Intent (LOI) may submit the final report.”

• Undergraduate Team Space Design Competition RFP – Human Enabled Venus Robotic Exploration  
• Open Division – Graduate/Undergraduate Missile Systems Design Competition RFP – Rapid Reaction Satellite Launcher 
• Undergraduate Individual Aircraft Design Competition RFP – Stratospheric Payload Delivery 
• Graduate Team Aircraft Design Competition RFP – Electric Training Sailplane 
• Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design Competition RFP – Heavy Lift Mobility Platform 

• Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design RFP –  Hybrid Turboprop
• Undergraduate Team - Engine RFP –  A Hybrid-Electric Propulsion System Using Fuselage Boundary Layer Ingestion for a Single-Aisle Commercial Aircraft
• Undergraduate Team Space Design RFP –  Dual Lander Mars Ascent Vehicle
• Undergraduate Individual Aircraft Design –  New Efficient Water and Terrestrial (NEWT) Aircraft
• Graduate Team Aircraft Design –  Disaster Response Search and Identification Attritable Air Vehicle (Dr. SAAV)

• Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design RFP –  Responsive Aerial Firefighting Aircraft
• Undergraduate Team Space Design RFP –  Martian Moon Exploration Excursion Vehicle
• Graduate Team Missile Design Competition RFP –  Reusable Penetrating Hypersonic ISR Platform
• Graduate Team Aircraft Design RFP – Hybrid- Electric STOL Air Taxi
• Undergraduate Team (Trial for 2022 Only) –  Team Engine Design

Aircraft Design Competitions

Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design
 RFP – Light Attack Aircraft

Graduate Team Aircraft Design
 RFP – Modern Regional Jet Family

Undergraduate Team Engine Design
 RFP – Let's Re-Engine the Concorde NEW UPDATE 16 OCT 2020 – Submission Instructions

Space Systems Design Competitions

Undergraduate Team Space Design
 RFP – Mars Ice Core Sample Return

Missile Systems Design Competitions

Graduate Team Missile Design Competition
 RFP

Aircraft Design Competitions

Graduate Team Aircraft Design Competition
RFP:  34876 2019-2020 RFP - GA Trainer Family
*For technical questions related to the RFP, please contact Jeff Corbets at jeffcorbets@gmail.com.

Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design Competition
RFP:  High Capacity Short Range Transport Aircraft
*This is an updated copy of a previously posted RFP. Please refer to page 2 for the correction, listed in blue text.
*For technical questions related to the RFP, please contact Andrew Dorsey at andrew.m.dorsey@boeing.com.

Gas Turbine (Engine) Design Competition

Undergraduate Team Gas Turbine (Engine) Design Competition
RFP:  Candidate Engines for a Supersonic Business Jet
*For technical questions related to the RFP, please contact Andrew Yatsko at a.j.yatsko@gmail.com.

Space Systems Design Competitions

Undergraduate Team Space Systems Design Competition
RFP:  Lunar Base Camp
*For technical questions related to the RFP, please contact Patrick Chai at patrick.r.chai@nasa.gov.

Missile Systems Design Competitions

Graduate Team Missile Systems Design Competition
RFP:  Supersonic Aerial Target
*For technical questions related to the RFP please contact Dustin Otten at dustin.otten@lmco.com.