Event Tag: University Students

30th Annual Design/Build/Fly Competition

The AIAA through the Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Design Engineering and Flight Test Technical Committees and the AIAA Foundation invites all university students to participate in the Cessna/Raytheon Missile Systems Student Design Build Fly competition. The contest will provide a real-world aircraft design experience for engineering students by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytic studies;

Student teams will design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio controlled aircraft which can best meet the specified mission profile. The goal is a balanced design possessing good demonstrated flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.

To encourage innovation and maintain a fresh design challenge for each new years participants, the design requirements and performance objective will be updated for each new contest year. The changes will provide new design requirements and opportunities, while allowing for application of technology developed by the teams from prior years.

2026 Region VI Student Conference

Submit an Abstract Student Conference Rules

Conference Host: California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA
Conference Location: Advanced Tech Labs at Cal Poly SLO

Take part in AIAA’s Regional Student Conference by presenting your research in a formal technical meeting, exchange ideas, and discuss programs with students from other universities in your region.

Please note: A high school or university student in good standing at their institution who is also an AIAA student member is eligible to submit a paper to the Regional Student Conference. The submitting and presenting author(s) must be AIAA student members. Any student may attend the Regional Student Conference but may be subjected to a higher registration fee if they are not AIAA members. Please click here for more information to join as an AIAA Student Member.

You must be attending a high school/college/university in Region VI to participate in the Region VI Student Conference. Students can petition to present at a conference outside their university’s region by emailing [email protected].

Region VI includes Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. Additionally, it includes the Canadian provinces of Yukon and British Columbia.

Cash prizes are awarded for first, second, and third place winners for each category.

Refer to the Student Conferences webpage for conference rules and FAQs.

2026 Region V Student Conference

Student Conference Rules

Conference Host: Iowa State University, Howe Hall & Sukup Hall, Ames, IA
Conference Dates: 26–27 March 2026

Take part in AIAA’s Regional Student Conference by presenting your research in a formal technical meeting, exchange ideas, and discuss programs with students from other universities in your region.

You must be attending a high school/college/university in Region V to participate in the Region V Student Conference. Students can petition to present at a conference outside their university’s region by emailing [email protected].

Region V includes Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Additionally, it includes the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

Cash prizes are awarded for first, second, and third place winners for each category.

2026 Region IV Student Conference

Student Conference Rules

Host: Rice University, Houston, Texas
Venue: Duncan Hall, Rice University

Take part in AIAA’s Regional Student Conference by presenting your research in a formal technical meeting, exchange ideas, and discuss programs with students from other universities in your region.

You must be attending a high school/college/university in Region IV to participate in the Region IV Student Conference. Students can petition to present at a conference outside their university’s region by emailing [email protected].

Region IV includes Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas. Additionally, it includes Mexico.

Cash prizes are awarded for first, second, and third place winners for each category.

Refer to the Student Conferences webpage for conference rules and FAQs.

2026 Region II Student Conference

Student Conference Rules

Conference Host: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Conference Venue: Russell House
Conference Dates: 26–27 March 2026

Take part in AIAA’s Regional Student Conference by presenting your research in a formal technical meeting, exchange ideas, and discuss programs with students from other universities in your region.

You must be attending a high school/college/university in Region II to participate in the Region II Student Conference.

Region II includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Additionally, it includes students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Cash prizes are awarded for first, second, and third place winners for each category.

Refer to the Student Conferences webpage for conference rules and FAQs.

Cancelled – 2020 Region III Student Conference

The student and volunteer organizers of the AIAA Region III Student Conference have cancelled their conference due to concerns about the coronavirus.

The Region III Student Conference was scheduled to be held 27-28 March at Ohio State University and has been cancelled at this time because the university has suspended all face-to-face events on campus until further notice due to a concern for the health and safety of visitors, students, faculty, and staff. AIAA will provide a full refund of conference registration fees in the next 3 to 5 business days.

Student papers submitted to the conferences will still be evaluated by technical judges, and feedback will be provided after reviews have been completed. Additional information about rescheduling is forthcoming. We apologize for this inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding and patience. For any questions, please contact Michael Lagana at [email protected].

We encourage everyone to follow the coronavirus safety guidelines set out by the  WHO  and  CDC.

For updates about how the coronavirus could impact AIAA events and forums, please visit https://aiaa.org/coronavirus

2022 Region V Student Conference

Take part in AIAA’s Regional Student Conference by presenting your research in a formal technical meeting, exchange ideas, and discuss programs with students from other universities in your region.

You must be an AIAA Student Member and attending a college/university or high school in Region V to participate in the Region V Student Conference.

Cash prizes are awarded for first, second, and third place winners for each category. First-place regional winners are then invited to participate in the AIAA Foundation International Student Conference, held during the AIAA SciTech Forum each January.

2022 Region III Student Conference

Take part in AIAA’s Regional Student Conference by presenting your research in a formal technical meeting, exchange ideas, and discuss programs with students from other universities in your region.

You must be an AIAA Student Member and attending a college/university or high school in Region III to participate in the Region III Student Conference.

Region III includes Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Refer to the Student Conferences webpage for conference rules and FAQs.

Cancelled – AIAA Design/Build/Fly

Due to concern for the health and safety of everyone involved in Design/Build/Fly (DBF), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has made the difficult decision to the cancel the event, which was scheduled to be held 16–19 April in Wichita, Kansas.

We are disappointed to cancel DBF because it is a valuable learning experience for students, who travel nationally and internationally to compete. However, the safety of the teams and all participants comes first.

The DBF Design Reports are still being evaluated and more information will be forthcoming as the organizing committee determines how to close out this year’s competition.

It is the responsibility of each participant to cancel his or her hotel room. Please contact your airline as soon as possible as AIAA cannot be responsible for costs associated with travel.

We apologize for this inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding and patience. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

We encourage everyone to follow the coronavirus safety guidelines set out by the  WHO and  CDC.

Cancelled – 2020 Region IV Student Conference

The student and volunteer organizers of the AIAA Region IV Student Conference have cancelled their conference due to concerns about the coronavirus.

The Region IV Student Conference was scheduled to be held 27-28 March at Oklahoma State University and has been cancelled at this time out of an abundance of caution due to a concern for the health and safety of visitors, students, faculty, and staff. Information regarding refunds of registration fees will be forthcoming. Student papers submitted to the conference will still be evaluated by technical judges, and feedback will be provided after reviews have been completed.

Student papers submitted to the conferences will still be evaluated by technical judges, and feedback will be provided after reviews have been completed. Full refunds will be provided to all registrants in the next 3 to 5 business days. We apologize for this inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding and patience. For any questions, please contact Michael Lagana at [email protected].

We encourage everyone to follow the coronavirus safety guidelines set out by the  WHO  and  CDC.

For updates about how the coronavirus could impact AIAA events and forums, please visit https://aiaa.org/coronavirus