Colorado State Engineering Senior Design Team Wins at Aero Design West Competition
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The Aero Design West team with their remote control aircraft.
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In April, a group of CSU engineering students were quite successful in the 2008 SAE Aero Design West competition in Fort Worth, Texas. Advised by faculty member Dr. Hiroshi Sakurai, seniors Nick Boone, Grant Rhoads, Chris Lawhorn, Daniel Wilson, Josh Hamilton, Chris Lambert, Jonathan Woodworth, and Allison Porter designed and built a remote control aircraft for the Aero West competition as their senior design project.
Aero Design hosts the annual competition for 50 plus teams of undergraduate and graduate students so they can apply their engineering studies to a real-life project that requires both teamwork and communication skills. The students’ task is to design and work together to build a remote control aircraft that can fly in certain conditions and that can lift a specific payload. Depending on which class of competition the team is in, certain obstacles and restrictions apply.
Team member Nick Boone of mechanical engineering said, "This year we entered the open class division which had a constraint saying that we had to take off in an undeveloped grass runway within an allotted distance. With our additional engine displacement constraint, we weren’t going to have the power to get off the ground in the grass runway. So, we researched and designed this powered undercarriage with the use of rubber bands. It was unique to our plane; no other team had it so they had trouble getting off the ground. It gave us a big advantage."
The team won 2nd place for their overall competition score, 2nd place for payload lifted, 1st place for their oral presentation, and they also received the Most Innovative Design Award.
Allison Porter, who was a senior in engineering science with a concentration in space, said, "It was exhilarating to see a design that started out as sketches on paper and then get to see the tangible product flying in real-life. It’s pretty much the most rewarding thing I’ve seen since being here at CSU."