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.
The AIAA AVIATION Forum is the only aviation event that covers the entire integrated spectrum of aviation business, research, development, and technology.
Visit AIAA.org/AVIATION
Join us 19–21 May 2026 to access inspiring sessions and premium content, develop valuable business leads, and make meaningful connections. More details on 2026 ASCEND will be available soon.
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On Demand Recording Available
Featuring Special Guest Lecturer, Sarah Popkin, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office
AIAA Members: make sure you are signed in to the site with your member credentials to be able to access the on demand replay.
This event is offered exclusively to AIAA members. Want to learn more about the benefits of AIAA membership?
Access Replay
Join us for “AIAA Spring Hypersonics Webinar,” presented by Sarah Popkin, and hosted by the AIAA HyTASP Technical Committee. This webinar sets the stage for understanding DARPA’s role and function in the Department of Defense. To create or prevent strategic surprise, DARPA empowers program managers to develop new, high-risk ideas to advance U.S. technical capability. In space, a new domain called very low Earth orbit (VLEO) is being researched at DARPA across three programs. Those programs and the additional technical and fundamental physics challenges to consider when operating in VLEO will be highlighted
The AIAA SciTech Forum program covers the science, technologies, and policies that are shaping the future of aerospace. The forum is the largest event for aerospace research, development, and technology in the world.
Join us 22–24 July 2025 to access inspiring sessions and premium content, develop valuable business leads, and make meaningful connections. More details on 2025 ASCEND will be available soon.
The AIAA AVIATION Forum is the only aviation event that covers the entire integrated spectrum of aviation business, research, development, and technology.
On Demand Recording Available
Access Replay
This on-demand webinar is free of charge and is open to the public.
Want to learn more about the benefits of AIAA membership?
Join us for “A Journey Toward MDAO,” presented by Kumar Bhatia, The Boeing Company (retired). Hosted by the AIAA Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Technical Committee, Bhatia will re-present his award lecture and discuss advancing the uses of MDAO (multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization). Bhatia received the 2022 AIAA Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Award for pioneering use of MDO in transport aircraft and developing a rapid approach for aircraft MDO employing appropriate fidelity analyses.
(Internal Note: this webinar didn’t happen)
In celebration of Women’s History Month, join AIAA in collaboration with NSBE Aerospace Special Interest Group and the Royal Aeronautical Society for this special webinar featuring Christine Darden. While Darden has many accomplishments, the majority of her 40-year NASA career focused on sonic boom minimization. Darden’s work laid the foundation for the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Aircraft which NASA has contracted Lockheed Martin Skunk Works to design, build, and test. Listen as she discusses her life’s work and how she advocates for equity for women in engineering.
This webinar is a part of the annual Mary Jackson Lecture Series hosted by the Royal Aeronautical Society and the AIAA Diversity Working Group.
