Tag: competition

Weekend Competition Will Test University Students’ Aircraft Designs to Deliver Vaccine Components

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

More Than 700 Students Gather for Annual Design/Build/Fly Competition

April 18, 2022 – – Reston, Va. – – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is returning to Wichita with its annual Design/Build/Fly (DBF) contest, April 22-24. The weekend event is hosted by Textron Aviation. More than 700 talented engineering students from universities in 13 countries, including the University of Kansas, will gather to test the radio-controlled aircraft they designed and built to deliver and drop vaccine components. Credentialed members of the media are invited to witness the flyoffs and awards presentation.

WHEN:
Friday, April 22
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Flight line open for university teams

Saturday, April 23
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. Flight line open for university teams

Sunday, April 24
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Flight line open for university teams
5:30 p.m. Awards presentation

WHERE:
Textron Aviation Employees’ Flying Club
10335 E. Central Avenue
Wichita, KS, 67206

Visitors will be allowed at the competition site, but not elsewhere on campus without prior coordination and an employee accompanying them.

WHAT:

  • Daily flights of radio-controlled aircraft by university teams
  • Missions will include deployment of the aircraft, staging of vaccination syringes, and delivery of environmentally sensitive vaccine vial packages.
  • The objective is to design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an uncrewed, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft that can best meet the specified mission profile.
  • The goal is a balanced design possessing good flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.

HEALTH and SAFETY:
COVID protocols will apply for entering the facility and all indoor spaces, including wearing masks. AIAA will be implementing its major event health and safety protocols for DBF. Journalists must follow all instructions for uploading proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results. Refer to https://aiaa.org/dbf/health-and-safety for more information.

CONTACT:
To attend in person, contact:

Amanda Jennings
AIAA Social Media Specialist
470-214-7464
[email protected]

Kate Flavin
Textron Aviation Communications Specialist
316-252-7780
[email protected]

SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow the competition on AIAA Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtag: #AIAADBF

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 aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About DBF
The Design/Build/Fly (DBF) competition (aiaa.org/dbf) is celebrating its 26th year. Started in 1996 by the AIAA Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design and Flight Test Technical Committees, DBF is an opportunity for university students to apply real-world aircraft design experience by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytic studies.

Student teams design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an uncrewed, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft that 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 year’s participants, the design requirements and performance objective are updated for each new contest year. The changes provide new design requirements and opportunities, while allowing for application of technology developed by the teams from prior years.

2022 DBF Sponsors: Textron Aviation, Raytheon Technologies, AIAA Foundation, AeroVironment, General Atomics Aeronautical, MathWorks, Spirit Aerosystems.

Innovators Invited to Compete to Build Best Autonomous Emergency Response Aircraft

Flying Magazine reports, “Calling all students, engineers, businesses, and other innovators. Time is running out to join a competition that will award $2 million in prizes to whoever can build the best autonomous emergency response aircraft. December 11 is the submission deadline for Stage 1 of GoAERO—a three-year contest backed by NASA, Boeing, RTX, and other key aviation stakeholders seeking to aid the estimated 4.5 million Americans living in ‘ambulance deserts,’ who may need to wait longer than 25 minutes for emergency services to arrive. The aircraft created by competitors could rescue people in danger and respond to disasters, medical emergencies, or humanitarian crises.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

Blue Origin, SpaceX Competition Boosts Supply Chain Companies’ Bottom Lines

Bloomberg reports that as private space firms “like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin step up rocket production and development and more nations race to the moon, mid-size manufacturers that provide their equipment and supplies are reaping the benefits.” Companies including “satellite builder MDA Ltd, heat-transfer manufacturer Graham Corp, and aluminum maker Constellium SE all saw share gains of two-thirds or more in 2023, driven in part by the billions of dollars in private and government funding for space exploration and the creation of large-scale satellite networks.”
Full Story (Bloomberg – Subscription Publication)

AIAA Announces 2022 Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Winners

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, [email protected], 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 aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

AIAA Announces 2023 Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 16, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) today announced the winners of the 27th Annual AIAA Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition:

  • First Place ($3,000): RWTH Aachen University, Germany
  • Second Place ($2,000): University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • Third Place ($1,500): Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida
  • Best Report Score ($100): University of Washington, Seattle

The complete 2023 DBF Competition results are posted online.

This year marks the largest ever DBF Competition flyoff participation, with 868 university students on 81 teams attending onsite. The flyoff event was hosted by AIAA Corporate Member Raytheon in Tucson, Ariz. Teams from 14 countries, including 27 US states and the District of Columbia participated in the full DBF Competition, including submitting design reports and attending the flyoff.

This year’s flight objective was to design, build, and test an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to conduct surveillance and jamming missions for electronic warfare. More details about the mission requirements are available on the DBF website: aiaa.org/dbf.

“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 great lesson for students as they prepare to enter this vibrant and meaningful field. Congratulations to the winning teams and all the teams that made it here to the DBF flyoff! The lessons learned and connections made here will be the basis for their future careers.”

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 Raytheon Technologies, Textron Aviation, 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 flyoff in Tucson.”

The 2024 AIAA DBF Competition will be held in April 2024 and hosted in Wichita, Kan., by Textron.

Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 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 aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA Announces Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Winners

Competition Champions 25 Years of Aircraft Innovation and Design

May 18, 2021 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) today announced the winners of the 25th annual AIAA/Textron Aviation/Raytheon Missiles & Defense Design/ Build/Fly (DBF) Competition.

The 2020–2021 Design/Build/Fly winners are:

  • First Place ($3,000): Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bengaluru, India
  • Second Place ($2,000): University of Central Florida
  • Third Place ($1,500): Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach
  • Best Report Score ($100): University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

The contest provides a real-world aircraft design experience for undergraduate and graduate engineering students by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytic studies. The competition is divided into two sections—a proposal and a formal design report. This year teams were also encouraged to submit a video presentation showcasing their aircraft in flight.

This university program invites teams of students to design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft that can best meet the specified mission profile. The goal is a balanced design that demonstrates flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.

“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!”

This year’s teams were treated to a message from Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and DBF alumnus, Joshua Dobbs. Dobbs is a 2017 graduate of Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he majored in aerospace engineering with a minor in business administration.

During the awards ceremony, Dobbs shared, “Engineering can be hard, especially in this discipline. We are working to change human transportation on Earth and in space. Seems pretty simple, right? In those moments when the problems seem insolvable and overwhelming, remember why you became passionate about the field. Along any journey to reach your goals you will face adversity. Your attitude will define how you overcome it.”

This year’s DBF objective was to design, build, and test an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a towed sensor. Missions included delivery of the UAV, transportation of sensors in shipping containers, and surveillance by deploying, operating, and recovering a towed sensor. More details about the mission requirements can be found on the DBF website at aiaa.org/dbf. Follow DBF on Facebook at @Aiaadbf.

“We are impressed with the resilience these teams have demonstrated by continuing their participation during the pandemic. I have enjoyed the video submissions by the teams flying their aircraft – we are inspired by their enthusiasm, talent, and creativity, which are hallmark to this event,” Dumbacher concluded.

The DBF organizing committee accepted 115 proposals for the 2020–2021 competition. Of those, 92 teams submitted design reports and 68 teams submitted a video presentation. The formal reports are scored for design, as well as manufacturing and testing plans.

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 Missiles & Defense, 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 this year, judge the videos instead of the fly-off.”

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270.

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 aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Students Place Second at 2022 Design/Build/Fly Competition

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (FL) reports that a team “of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students recently made school history by placing second in this year’s Design/Build/Fly aircraft competition hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).” The team’s aircraft “is named MULLET, which stands for Medical Unmanned Low-Level Electric Transport.”
Full Story (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University)
More Info (AIAA)

AIAA Announces 2022 Design/Build/Fly Winners

Digital Engineering reports that AIAA has announced “the winners of the 26th annual AIAA/Textron Aviation/Raytheon Technologies Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition.” First place goes to the Georgia Institute of Technology, second place to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and third place to FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences. The DBF objective for 2022 “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.” AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher said, “Aerospace trains us to adapt to the unexpected. It’s a good lesson for students as they enter this vibrant and meaningful field.”
Full Story (Digital Engineering)
Learn More (Aerospace America)
Learn More (AIAA Statement)

AIAA Announces 2024 Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 22, 2024 – Wichita, Kan. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) announced the winners of the 28th Annual AIAA DBF Competition:

  • 1st Place ($3,000): Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida
  • 2nd Place ($2,000): Georgia Institute of Technology
  • 3rd Place ($1,500): University of Washington, Seattle
  • Best Design Report ($100): University of Southern California

This year marks the largest-ever flyoff participation, with more than 1,000 students on 93 university teams attending onsite. The flyoff was hosted by AIAA Corporate Member Textron Aviation in Wichita, Kan. Teams from 12 countries, including 32 US states participated in the full DBF Competition, including submitting design reports and attending the flyoff.

This year’s flight objective was to design, build, and test a remotely operated radio control airplane for Urban Air Mobility. The airplane must be able to conduct a delivery flight, a medical transport flight, and an urban taxi flight. Teams also conducted a ground mission demonstrating how quickly they can change their aircraft configuration from delivery to medical transport to urban air taxi.

“Design/Build/Fly is a highlight of the year,” said AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher. “Aerospace teaches us to adapt to the unexpected. It’s a great lesson for students as they prepare to enter this vibrant and meaningful field. The lessons learned and connections made here will be the foundation for their future careers. Congratulations to the winning teams and all the teams that made it here to the DBF flyoff!”

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, 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 proposals and reports, and execute the flyoff.

The 2025 AIAA DBF Competition will be held in April 2025 hosted in Tucson, Ariz., by Raytheon.

Media contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270

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 aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.