AIAA Announces 2022 Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Winners Written 24 April 2022

April 24, 2022 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) today announced the winners of the 26th annual AIAA/Textron Aviation/Raytheon Technologies Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition:

• First Place ($3,000): Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga.
• Second Place ($2,000): Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla.
• Third Place ($1,500): FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, Austria
• Best Report Score ($100): FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, Austria

The 2022 competition returned to an in-person format hosted by Textron Aviation in Wichita, Kan. More than 700 talented engineering students made up 69 university teams (60 teams from the United States, nine international teams) who spent the weekend testing their radio-controlled aircraft.

This year’s DBF objective was to design, build, and test an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to deliver and drop vaccine components. Missions included deployment of the aircraft, staging of vaccination syringes, and delivery of environmentally sensitive vaccine vial packages. More details about the mission requirements can be found on the DBF website at aiaa.org/dbf. Follow DBF on Facebook at @Aiaadbf.

“Design/Build/Fly is a highlight of the year,” said Dan Dumbacher, AIAA executive director. “Aerospace trains us to adapt to the unexpected. It’s a good lesson for students as they enter this vibrant and meaningful field. Congratulations to the winning teams!”

Russ Althof, director of the DBF organizing committee, said, “We owe our thanks for the success of the DBF competition to the efforts of many volunteers from Textron Aviation, Raytheon Technologies, and the AIAA sponsoring technical committees: Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Flight Test, and Design Engineering. These volunteers collectively set the rules for the contest, publicize the event, gather entries, judge the written reports, and judge the fly-off in Wichita.”

The 2023 DBF Competition will be held in April 2023 and hosted by Raytheon Technologies in Tucson, Ariz.

Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, RebeccaG@AIAA.org, 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.