Engineering Students Prepare for Aero Vehicle Design Competitions

Three members of the Advanced Aero Vehicle Group (AAVG) Student Design Team presented their project designs to members of the Society of Flight Test Engineers (SFTE) at Boeing IDS Headquarters in St. Louis at their February dinner meeting. The AAVG, an official student organization at Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly University of Missouri Rolla), was formed in 2000 by students who desired to apply classroom theory by producing a working aero vehicle. The students did an excellent job of interacting with SFTE members, mostly Boeing employees, during their impressive PowerPoint presentation. Some highlights from the presentation will appear below.

AAVG President Ben Marti, a senior in Aerospace Engineering, began the presentation by introducing the program and its current projects. There are currently 46 members, from various engineering program backgrounds, contributing their talents within aircraft and rocketry project teams. Since 2001, the group has participated in the SAE Aero Design Competitions, winning first place in 2003. Also, this year will be the Advanced Aero-Vehicle Group's second year to participate in NASA's University Student Launch Initiative (USLI). Both competitions will be held in April, 2009.

David Althuis, a junior in Aerospace Engineering and USLI Chief Engineer, presented the technical aspects of the current and previous rocket projects. Last year's team placed third overall with a rocket named Nikomedes, despite reaching 1741 feet short of the 1 mile altitude requirement. The current team is assembling its new design, Aiolos, which applies the lessons learned from the previous year's shortcomings. Improvements in weight control processes are now in place to ensure that the current design will reach the required altitude.

Michael Mueller, a senior in Aerospace Engineering and SAE Aero Design Team Chief Engineer, concluded the formal presentation with a look at the current and previous aircraft designs. Previous teams have placed first through third overall, but the last aircraft suffered structural failure during flight. The current team understands the issues surrounding the previous design, and is moving forward with a new, more conventional approach. Advanced tools, such as aircraft design software and flight simulator, are being used to design the current model. This team is dedicated to producing a winning design for this year's competition.

This impressive group of design students, and their faculty advisors, should be commended for voluntarily participating in aeronautic design competitions in addition to their academic requirements. You can learn much more about these teams by accessing their website at http://web.mst.edu/~aavg/ .