ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis University’s Aerodynamic Design Team is heading to Tucson, Arizona, this weekend to compete in the 2024-25 Design/Build/Fly Competition. The AIAA Applied Aerodynamics, Aircraft Design, Design Engineering and Flight Test Technical Committees event began in 1996 as an opportunity for university students to apply real-world aircraft design experience by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytical studies.

The team of students in SLU’s School for Science and Engineering will compete against other university teams from across the world in a multi-day test of the flight capabilities of the unmanned, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft the team built earlier this year.

Teams need to showcase balanced design with flight handling qualities, built affordably while still providing high vehicle performance.

The idea of competing began last year, as a team of SSE students sought to enter their senior design project in the 2024 competition. Their design was not chosen, but the challenge appealed to some of their classmates. The Aerodynamic Design Team set out to make the 2025 competition.

The team includes Joshua Nguyen, Emily Rollins, Jessica Rutherford, Caroline Hunt, Michael (Tan) Ho, Yoa Peralta, Lydia Backer, Ava Alton, Cameron Kernaghan, Ikran Ali, Peter Mwaura, Nomin Erdenebileg, Russel Hymel, Ahron Bloom, Danielle Rogers and Jacob Plonka. Susheel Singh, Ph.D., assistant professor in aerospace and mechanical engineering, serves as the team’s faculty advisor. 

The Aerodynamic Design Team (ADT) at SLU is a student-led club committed to providing hands-on experience in aircraft design and technical writing. The team started meeting in August and submitted its first proposal in October. The proposal was accepted before the end of the year and a final report was due in February. The team also needed proof-of-concept on its plane.

The unmanned, electric-powered plane has a wingspan of six feet and can reach an air speed of 85 miles per hour. The plane will compete in four judged events over the course of the weekend and the scores will be tallied to determine a winner. 

The national competition begins Thursday, April 10, and runs through Sunday, April 13. SLU’s Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence (IC-CAE) is supporting the team’s travel expenses, the Student Government Association (SGA) covered the cost of manufacturing and building the aircraft and the School of Science and Engineering helped the students ship the plane to Arizona.

About the School of Science and Engineering

Saint Louis University formed the School of Science and Engineering in 2022 to better meet the future needs of its students and faculty. The school brings together select departments from the College of Arts and Sciences — chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, and physics — with the former Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology. To learn more about the School of Science and Engineering, visit slu.edu/science-and-engineering.