Success of the PUT team at the SAE Aero Design West competition in the USA
The Poznań University of Technology team took 2nd place overall in the most prestigious Regular class, 2nd place in the flight category, and 1st place in the technical presentation category.
Thus, the students equalled the previous second best result achieved in California in 2012 and 2022. The only greater achievement remains the overall victory in the Regular class achieved by the Academic Aviation Club of the Poznań University of Technology at the SAE Aero Design West 2018 competition.
The final result was determined by the correct tactics adopted by the team (the correct selection of weights in individual flights, choice of take-off time, analysis of weather conditions, etc.). The design of the model and the used technical solutions constituted the result of systematic work and accumulating experience resulting from previous competitions.
The Poznań team consisted of students from the Poznań University of Technology: Adam Biber, Wojciech Bissinger, Antoni Dąbkiewicz, Marcel Kraśniewski, Mikołaj Lewandowski, Antoni Napierała, Adam Stępień, and Aleksander Szotkowski. The scientific supervisor of the PUT Aero Design team was Radosław Górzeński Ph.D. Eng.
SAE Aero Design is an international academic competition that has been organised for 38 years by the American Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in cooperation with, for example, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and NASA. The task of the participants - student groups from all over the world - is to design and construct a model aircraft, in accordance with the constraints imposed by the organiser. Apart from developing documentation, the teams must make a technical presentation and then lift as much weight as possible with the model in flight. The competition teaches independent technical, organisational, and logistical problem solving, teamwork skills, the art of presenting, as well as documenting achievements. According to Professor Jerzy Nawrocki of the Poznań University of Technology, "competitions such as the SAE AeroDesign transform education from lecture-based (learning by reading) to project-based (learning by doing)."
A team representing the Warsaw University of Technology has participated in the competition since 1991. Since 2008, students from the Poznań University of Technology have also been taking part in the competition; in subsequent years this group was joined by students from the Rzeszów University of Technology, the Wrocław University of Technology, the Air Force Military Academy in Dęblin, as well as the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków.
The participation of the representation of the Poznań University of Technology took place with the support of the Rector Agnieszka Misztal and the Deans Prof. Olaf Ciszak (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering), Prof. Zbigniew Nadolny (Faculty of Environmental and Energy Engineering), Prof. Jacek Pielecha (Faculty of Civil Engineering and Transport), and Prof. Hanna Włodarkiewicz-Klimek (Faculty of Management Engineering). The team's participation was also financially supported by the City of Poznań and Pratt & Whitney Kalisz. Logistically, the team is supported by the Aeroclub of Poznań and a number of well-wishers.
In September 2021, the PUT Aero Design team took part in the Teknofest Technology competition held in Turkey. Teknofest is Turkey's first technology festival, with more than 100,000 participants competing in 34 categories. The ambassador of the competition is Selçuk Bayraktar, creator of the TB2 drone, among others. The Autonomous Airborne Waste Detection System, presented by students from Poznań, won recognition from the judges and was awarded the highest Golden Performance Prize and 3rd place overall.
In April 2022, students of the Academic Aviation Club placed 2nd overall in the Regular class during the SAE Aero Design West competition held in Los Angeles, USA.
In March 2023, the PUT Aero Design team became the first team from outside South America to win the SAE Aero Design Mexico competition.
See photos from the competition
Representation website: http://www.aerodesign.put.poznan.pl/
Direct reports: http://www.aerodesign.put.poznan.pl/biuletyny/
Competition website: https://www.saeaerodesign.com
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