AIAA Foundation Announces Winners of 2011-2012 Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition Written 24 August 2012

August 24, 2012 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation (AIAA Foundation) is pleased to announce that the team from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va., has won the 2011–2012 AIAA Foundation Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition. Representatives of the team will present their design at the on September 11, 2012, at the AIAA SPACE 2012 Conference & Exposition at the Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, Calif.

The 2011-2012 contest required entrants to design, and produce a business plan for a commercial Earth-to-orbit passenger vehicle. The vehicle should be capable of taking paying customers from Earth to orbit and back for a variety of research and tourism purposes.

Teams winning awards are:

• First Prize: The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va., for their design “Magneto.” Faculty Advisor, Kevin Shinpaugh, and team members: Nicole Heersema, Thomas Hertz, Thomas Kasmer, Maria Rye, Matthew Smith, Matthew Shepard, Brian Undercoffer and Greg Wheeler. The team will receive an award of $2,500 from the AIAA Foundation.


• Second Prize: California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Calif., for their design “Storm.” Faculty advisor Donald Edberg, and team members: Ajit Dhaliwal, Kyle J. Dominguez, Erick Li, Scott McCure, Samira Motiwala, Phillip Nguyen, Carlos Pineda, Anita Shokoui. The team will receive an award of $1,500 from the AIAA Foundation.


• Third Prize: SRM University, Chennai, India, for their design “NavShitizVahak.” Faculty advisor Dr. M. Balakrishnan, and team members: Anku Aravind, Rishabh Bana, Rajdeep Chowdhuri, Jeevraj Hejmady, Sarnavi Mahesh, SweetyPrakash, Joel Alex Roy, Ravi Shakya and Krishnamurthy V. The team will receive an award of $1,000 from the AIAA Foundation.

For more information on the AIAA Foundation Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition, please contact Rachel Andino at 703.264.7535 or rachela@aiaa.org.

Media Contact: Duane Hyland at 703.264.7558 or duaneh@aiaa.org.

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