Planes constructed by the students’ research group SAE AeroDesign went up with a bang, or even with medals, in the competition SAE Aero Design West 2024 in Los Angeles.

This year, students of the Warsaw University of Technology took to the United States planes in the class Regular and Advanced. 

In the category Regular, a plane is built to carry the greatest load. There are constraints: length of the runway, engine power and a ban on using composite materials. An Advanced category plane must complete a complex mission. The main plane transports water and scans the airport with a camera to find circles in a given colour. Then it releases a smaller plane attached to it, which is supposed to land in a specific location on its own. Students stress that it is not only a construction challenge but also an IT one.

Planes in the competition SAE Aero Design are thoroughly tested and evaluated. Everything matters: efficiency of task completion, but also the prepared technical and design base.

Our students came back from the United States with five medals. In the general classification Advanced they took the second place. They also got the second place for technical documentation and mission completion. The Regular plane was third in the general classification and also third in flights.

– At the competition there were adverse weather conditions and strong rivals – our students report. – There are over 60 teams from all over the world. In spite of that, we have managed to get fantastic places! We are proud of the work we invested and of our results.

At SAE Aero Design West 2024, WUT was represented by: Emil Kisielewicz (head of the research group SAE AeroDesign, Advanced), Piotr Godlewski (Advanced), Bartosz Zięzio (Advanced), Paweł Sadowski (Advanced), Adam Koszałka (Advanced), Monika Mederska (Regular), Michał Włodarczyk (Regular) and Maja Szymańska (Regular). 

The competition SAE Aero Design West 2024 took place on 12–14 April.