Tag: engineering

Vega C Successfully Launches for First Time in Nearly Two Years

Space News reports, “A Vega C successfully launched an Earth observation satellite Dec. 5 in the rocket’s first flight since a failure nearly two years ago. The Vega C lifted off from the European spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, at 4:20 p.m. Eastern. The launch was previously scheduled for Dec. 4 but delayed a day because a problem with the mobile launch gantry at the pad.”
Full Story (Space News)

 

 

 

 

 

Video

Vega-C rocket launches Sentinel-1C satellite in return to flight, Dec. 5, 2024 (Launch at 37:02 mark)
(VideoFromSpaceYouTube)

U.S. Airlines Eyeing Air Taxis for Airport Shuttle Service

Aviation Week reports, “Millions of dollars have flown into the nascent electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) sector over the past several years, as investors bet that quiet, emissions-free air taxis will unlock a new wave of demand for urban air mobility (UAM). While those services are not expected to reach scale until the next decade, air taxi startups are looking toward the airport shuttle mission as an initial launch application in the coming years, promising to shave long trips on congested urban road networks down to 10-20 mins. or less.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

AIAA Announces 2024 Region VII Student Conference Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 5, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Region VII Student Conference, held 25–26 November at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia, and online.

Attendees presented 46 papers and represented 20 universities. The conference had a strong international presence with students from 11 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Papers presented at the conference will be published by AIAA and available on Aerospace Research Center (ARC) in January 2025.

“We are thrilled to see our student members in action during the Region VII Student Conference. It’s vital for university students to gain practical experience presenting their research findings and receiving valuable feedback from aerospace professionals,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “We look forward to seeing these students shape the future of aerospace!”

For the undergraduate, masters, and undergraduate team categories, first-place winners received a cash prize of $500 and an invitation to participate in the International Student Conference during the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum, 6–10 January, Orlando, Florida. Second-place winners received a cash prize of $300 and third-place received $250. The high school students received $100 for first place, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place.

AIAA student conferences give students an opportunity to present and publish their work in front or their peers and members of the industry. The AIAA Foundation sponsors student conferences. All of the AIAA seven regions host a conference each year. The Regional Student Conferences for Regions I-VI will take place in spring 2025.

2024 AIAA Region VII Student Conference Paper Winners

High School Category

  • 1st Place: Anay Ashwin, Haileybury College, Australia, “Venna Regolith Sample Acquisition Device – A Novel Proof of Concept for Lunar Rovers”
  • 2nd Place: Henri Kim, Seoul Foreign School, South Korea, “Effects of Boeing 767 Winglet Types on Flight Efficiency: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach”
  • 3rd Place: Cheney Wu and Nate Osikowicz, Cranbook Schools, United States, “An Airfoil Tensegrity Design: Concept, Algorithm Development, and Programming Implementation”

Undergraduate Category

  • 1st Place: Said Mouhaiche and Anne Bettens, University of Sydney, Australia, “Lazily Reformulating Design Optimization as a Classification Problem”
  • 2nd Place: Leon Phillips and Daniel Edgington-Mitchell, Monash University, Australia, “Investigating the Influence of Separate Propellant Streams in Rotating-Detonation Engine Injectors”
  • 3rd Place: Thomas Finley and Daniel Edgington-Mitchell, Monash University, Australia, “Modelling and Schlieren Analysis of Shock Wave Reflections Over a Turbine Cascade”

Masters Category

  • 1st Place: Zhen Hong Chai and Tulasi Parashar, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, “Performance Insights into Applied-Field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thrusters with the Princeton AF-MPD Database”
  • 2nd Place: Shiva Jogu and Karan Das, Amity University, India, “Mitigating Shock Wave Challenges through Secondary Recirculation in Mixed Compression Supersonic Air Intake”
  • 3rd Place: Serika Yokoyama and Kikuko Miyata, Meijo University, Japan, “Discussion on Autonomous Sensor Data Selection Method for Planetary Rover Localization and its Verification”

Team Category

  • 1st Place: Hardit Saini, Milcha Masresha, Andrews Agyei, Raima Rahman, Omar Abdi, Aamna Abbasi, Imad Foughali, and Eldad Avital, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, “Small Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Aerodynamic-Structural Design for Improved Performance Using Gurney Flaps”
  • 2nd Place: Asif Hasnayeen, Md Redwan Iqbal, Farhan Syeed, Morsalin Sheikh, and Gp Capt A N Somanna, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, “Construction of a Small Fixed Wing UAV for Surveillance”
  • 3rd Place: Lisa Dsouza, Adithya Vijay, Pranay Agrawal, Ullas AJ, Katkam Naveen, Anurag Kumar Jha, and NK Gahlot, Amity University, India, “Numerical Analysis of Pintle Nozzle Geometry Optimization for Improved Thrust in Rocket Engines”

Media Contact: Rebecca 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 X/TwitterFacebookLinkedIn, and Instagram.

Joby Receives FAA Approval to Launch Air Taxi Flight Academy

Flying Magazine reports Joby on Tuesday “said it received Part 141 flight academy certification from the FAA, laying the groundwork to begin training qualified aviators at its Joby Aviation Academy in Watsonville, California, a short air taxi flight away from its headquarters in Santa Cruz. The company intends to offer private pilot, instrument rating, commercial pilot, and certified flight instructor courses, beginning at entry level. Graduates could go on to fly air taxis for Joby or a competitor.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

India to Launch European Proba-3 Satellites on Dec. 5 to Create Artificial Eclipses in Space

SPACE reports, “A European mission that will use two satellites to create artificial eclipses in Earth orbit will launch early Thursday morning (Dec. 5) … The ESA’s Proba-3 formation-flying mission is scheduled to lift off atop an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Thursday at 5:42 a.m. EST (1042 GMT; 4:42 p.m. local time in India).”
Full Story (SPACE)

Flight Rate of Falcon 9 is 30 Times Higher Than Shuttle at 1/100th the Cost

Ars Technica reports, “SpaceX recently hit some notable milestones with its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, and even in the full context of history, the performance of the vehicle is pretty incredible. Last Tuesday, the company launched a batch of Starlink v2-mini satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket, marking the 400th successful mission by the Falcon 9 rocket.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

Early-bird Registration for AIAA SciTech Forum Ends 16 December

AIAA News

The 2025 forum will feature approximately 3,000 technical presentations spanning 60+ topics, including aerodynamic measurement technology, applied aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, guidance, navigation, and control, hypersonics, intelligent systems, propellants and combustions, spaceflight mechanics, and more. Professionals and students can save up to 25%.

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