2011- 2012 AERO DESIGN TEAM

An international annual event sponsored by the SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers), the SAE® Aero Design competition is specifically directed toward college students interested in aeronautical engineering. Lawrence Tech has incorporated the competition into its engineering curriculum as a year-long project open to freshmen through senior students.

SAE® Aero Design features three classes of competition: regular, advance, and micro. The 2012 Lawrence Tech SAE® Aero Design team will compete in the regular class against teams from around the world. Their challenge is to design, build, test, and fly a heavy-lift radio-controlled aircraft. Given a set of constraints, the goal is to airlift the most weight possible. Some of the constraints last year include a maximum linear dimension (length plus width plus height) of 225 inches, an unmodified OS 0.61 FX engine, to take off within 200 feet, to land within 400 feet, and a time restriction for removing the cargo bay area. A competitive 10 pound plane will lift 30 pounds of payload. This year the competition will be hosted by Lockheed Martin Corporation. The teams will be judged in four main categories: Oral Presentation, Design and Innovation, Payload Prediction, and Flight Competition.