The SAE Aero Design competition is intended to provide undergraduate and graduate engineering students with a real-life engineering challenge.  The competition has been designed to provide exposure to the kinds of situations that engineers face in their real-life work environment.  In what is first and foremost a design competition, students will find themselves performing trade studies and making compromises to arrive at a design solution that will optimally satisfy the mission objectives while still conforming to the limitations specified in the rules.  The competition will be from March 8-10, 2024 in Lakeland, FL.

   

 

 
 
The importance of interpersonal communication skills is sometimes overlooked, and yet both written and oral communication skills are vital in the engineering workplace.  To encourage teams to develop these skills, a large percentage of each team’s score is determined by a design report and and oral presentation.  Team members are encouraged to innovate and develop ideas and support them with technical analysis and experimentation.  This leads to a teaching philosophy unlike a classroom and more like a workplace.  Aero Design is a great place to apply classroom knowledge in the real world.  This includes 3D modeling, simulations, structural analysis, and manufacturing.

 

 

 

The SAE Aero Design competition has three classes: Regular, Advanced, and Micro.  Each class has its own objective, scoring, and vehicle limitations.

Regular Class continues to be the class whose purpose is to develop a fundamental understanding of flight and aircraft design.  SAE recommends Regular Class for new teams interested in competing.  While the Regular class mission is the simplest of the three classes, competition is fierce.

Advanced Class requires teams to have a systems approach to the design while integrating several engineering disciplines: aeronautical, mechanical, electrical, and computer engineers.  The goals for this class have often involved precision-dropping payloads and autonomy.  Advanced class is generally geared towards teams of graduate students.

Micro Class teams have to design a small, lightweight aircraft and balance conflicting requirements of short take-off, maximum speed, external and internal cargo, and rapid unloading.