Cal Poly Engineering Sweeps AIAA Student Aircraft Design Competition

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly Engineering swept first-, second- and third-place awards in the undergraduate and graduate student design competition sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

In the undergraduate contest, teams were required to design an innovative heavy-lift hybrid air vehicle. The top prize went to Cal Poly's Mustang Aerospace team.

The graduate student competition called for an electrically powered aircraft. Cal Poly's VoltAir team took top honors with The BLITZ Electric Aircraft. The teams were under the direction of faculty advisor Bruce Wright, joined by William Durgin for the graduate competition.

"The fact that five of us were able to design nearly every aspect of a radically new airplane in a matter of months was the most impressive part of the whole competition," said Matt Handfelt, team lead, The BLITZ. “It tested our Learn by Doing mettle to the extreme. The intensity of challenges and deadlines required learning and doing almost simultaneously – and it showed us how far we could go."

Following graduation in June, Handfelt joined Northrop Grumman in San Diego to work on unmanned aircraft.

The AIAA is the world's largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org.

Winning Teams Fielded by Cal Poly Aerospace:

Undergraduate:
· First prize, $2,500: Mustang Aerospace designed Pegasus. Amy Kronsteiner: team lead and payload module; David Caudle: propulsion system; Cory Hackett-Robles: solid model and controls; Collin Heller: configuration and aerodynamics/buoyance; Alan L'Esperance: control operations and subsystems; Jason Nguyen: structures and solid model.

· Second prize, $1,500: Central Coast Solutions designed The Eclipse. Daniel Leighton: team lead, structures; Colin Burt: aerodynamics, buoyance; Mark Costa: propulsion, weights; William Howe: controls, ACLS; Hans Mayta: performance, cost; Vanessa Wood: solid modeling, configuration.

· Third prize, $1,000: Swift Lift Aerospace designed SL-1 Leviathan. Kellie Tremaine: team lead, buoyant lift, stability and controls; Jason Cortez: payload module design and materials, structures and weights; Eric Paciano: control operations, subsystems and system engineering; Thomas Price: aerodynamics, alternative fuels and performance; Cory Seubert: configurator, propulsion and solid modeling.

Graduate:
· First prize, $2,500: Team VoltAir designed The BLITZ Electric Aircraft. Matt Handfelt: team lead and performance; Christian Lopez: propulsion and stability and controls; Ryan Mayer: systems and structures; Nick Riccobono: aerodynamics and cost; Brendon Townshend: configuration and solid modeling; faculty advisor Durgin.

· Second prize, $1,500: Team Laminar Flow Aviation designed The EA-Mk1. Mark Anderson: structures and solid model; David Babka: team lead and controls; Ethan Erlhoff: aerodynamics; Ryan Milligan: performance; Nathan Phelps: propulsion; faculty advisors Durgin and Wright.

· Third prize, $1,000: Team Gorillianaires Aerospace designed The Ultimum. Derek Goss: propulsion, configuration; Chee-woon Kim: solid modeling; Dorian Pandey: weights and cost; Scott Sawyer: controls and performance; Sean Stewart: structures and configuration; Mathew Thomas: aerodynamics; faculty advisor Durgin.

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