AIAA Announces 2022–2023 University Student Design Competitions Winners Written 21 September 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 21, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2022–2023 Design Competitions. AIAA Design Competitions give undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to respond to requests for proposals outlining a design problem that requires specialized technical solutions. Several of the competitions allow students to perform theoretical work and gain real-world insight into the design process.

“Design competitions help students solve real-life problems and prepare them to make an impact in the aerospace community. These young people receive valuable feedback from technical experts who serve as volunteers on AIAA technical committees,” said AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher. “Everyone who participates in these competitions is shaping the future of aerospace.”

Five competitions were held in the following categories:

Aircraft: Undergraduate Individual, Undergraduate Team, Graduate Team
Space:    Undergraduate Team
Engine:  Undergraduate Team

The 2022–2023 AIAA Design Competitions winners are:

Undergraduate Individual Aircraft Design

• First Prize: Daniel Pacheco, University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas), for his design, “Design and Analysis of Little Goose.” Dr. Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, faculty advisor.


• Second Prize: David Sztajnbok, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California), for his design, “AirSChooner-105 P/C.” Dr. Geoffrey Spedding, faculty advisor.


• Third Prize: Riley Schwartzhoff, University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas), for his design, “The Frog Hopper.” Dr. Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, faculty advisor.

Undergraduate Team Aircraft Design

• First Prize: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, Illinois), for their design, “Hybrid-electric Regional Turboprop - Team Jackalope.” Stephanie Dutra, Sarah Erne, Krishna Modi, Evher Benjamin Aponte, Noor Ansari, Anish M. Joshi, and Hsien-Kuei Chang. Dr. Jason Merret, faculty advisor. Team name: Jackalope.


• Second Prize: University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia), for their design, “University of Virginia SkyKings Hybrid-Electric Turboprop Design.” James Caputo, Ryan Keller, Ryan Grant, Darius Espinoza, Jannik Grabner, Alex Wang, Kangyi Park, Eun Park, and Alexander Poley. Dr. Jesse Quinlan, faculty advisor. Team name: SkyKings.


• Third Prize: University of California – Davis (Davis, California), for their design, “Regional Hybrid-Electric Turboprop.” Ryan Chen, Ethan Brown, Loe Yer Yang, Bryan Tiang, and Jackie The. Christina Harvey, faculty advisor. Team name: EcoProp.

Graduate Team Aircraft Design

• First Prize: Université de Liège (Liège, Belgium), for their design, “RADAR Disaster Response Search and Identification Attritable Air Vehicle.” Alexandre Spits, Sven Michiels, Deogracias Mulamba, Robin Tamburrini, Emrah Altin, Oumar Sow, Nabil Bouyakhrichan, and Wildy Mervil. Dr. Ludovic Noels and Dr. Dimitriadis Grigorios, faculty advisors. Team name: Team Omega.


• Second Prize: Université de Liège (Liège, Belgium), for their design, “BeLI.” Lucas Batlle Mari, Louis Page, Thibaut Dupont, Mathieu Van houte, Jonas Gerard, Justin Pesesse, Lucas Viseur, and Cem Biz. Dr. Ludovic Noels and Dr. Dimitriadis Grigorios, faculty advisors. Team name: BeLIvers.


• Third Prize: Université de Liège (Liège, Belgium), for their design, “The Drop.” Charles Jacquet, Benoit Laurent, Lucie Linotte, Florian Muller, Mathias Brach, Leonore Colson, Colette Remacle, Eric Pavel Azangue Dongmo, and Cedric Seret. Dr. Ludovic Noels and Dr. Dimitriadis Grigorios, faculty advisors. Team name: Team The Drop.

Undergraduate Team Space Design

• First Prize: Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia), for their design, “Transit, Rendezvous, & Taxi Launcher.” Jurist Chan, Trey Farmer, Lonnie Webb, Reid Fly, Pessi Laensirinne, Sparsh Desai, Elle Smith, Aaron Hammond, and George Blackwell. Dr. Álvaro Romero-Calvo, faculty advisor. Team name: Transport and Retrieval with Two Landers (TRTL).


• Second Prize: California State Polytechnic University – Pomona (Pomona, California), for their design, “Maverick.” Basil Aranda, Amanda Ewing, Tyrone Collins, Fateme Tahmak, Edgar Romero, Ashley Anderson, Cesar Villa, and Daniella Dorantes. Dr. Navid Nakhjiri, faculty advisor. Team name: Space Pirates.


• Third Prize: Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia), for their design, “Mars Twin Lander Descent and Ascent System.” Rebekah Geil, Kendall Seefried, Claire Keller, Landon Jarrel, Tabitha D’Amato, Jonathan Lin, Satvik Kumar, Michael Keraga, Lachlan Holliday, and Braden Kerstin.  Dr. Álvaro Romero-Calvo, faculty advisor. Team name: Project Cupid.

Undergraduate Team Engine Design

• First Place: Turkish Naval Academy (Istanbul, Türkiye), for their design, “A New Hybrid Propulsion System Design for the NASA STARC-ABL Plane.” Burak Üzülmez (Team Captain), Mehmet Demir, Mehmet Adnan Karagöz, and Göktuğ Karaca. Doğuş Özkan, faculty advisor. Team name: The Century.


• Second Place: Milwaukee School of Engineering (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), for their design, “Dream Stream Propulsion System.” Devon Lallensack, Izaiah Dietrich, Michael Gavin, and Cade Beekman. Mia Mattingly, Prabhakar Venkateswaran, faculty advisor. Team name: Team Dream Stream.


• Third Place: Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur (Kharagpur, India), for their design, “Vidyut.” Surendra Kolhe, Abhishek Agrawal, Aditya Bharade, and Harsh Raj. Chetankumar Sureshbhai Mistry, faculty advisor; Goutam Mandal, project advisor. Team name: Come Fly With Me.

Media Contact: Rebecca 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, LinkedIn, and Instagram.