{"425191":{"#nid":"425191","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech teams shine at international airplane design competitions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe weekend of April 12 was a busy one for a team of ASDL-led engineering students -- participants in two storied design competitions: the 2014\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/students.sae.org\/cds\/aerodesign\/about.htm\u0022\u003ESociety of Automotive Engineers International (SAE\u003C\/a\u003E) match-up in Marietta GA, and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aiaadbf.org\/\u0022\u003E2014 AIAA Design\/Build\/Fly\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;competition in Wichita, KS.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It was a major undertaking by Georgia Tech and by AE that, on the same day, in two separate locations, we launched four different student-designed aircraft,\u0022\u0026nbsp;said Dr. Dimitri Mavris, head of the Aerospace Systems Design Lab (ASDL)\u0026nbsp;that oversaw both efforts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESupported by Rolls Royce, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, the GT team spent hundreds of hours designing, adjusting, and testing the vehicles before they set out for the competitions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Before they launched any of the SAE\u0026nbsp;vehicles, they had to build prototypes,\u0022 said Mavris. \u0022They got up before dawn many mornings so they could test them. They ran more than 135 test flights before they competed.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the SAE competition, Georgia Tech aerospace and mechanical engineering students competed against 71 teams from eight countries, placing first in one category, second in two others, and third overall in the \u201cmicro\u201d class.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoing into the much-anticipated DBF match-up, the Georgia Tech plane was widely considered to be a strong contender for first place. It was the second lightest vehicle in the competition and was designed by a team that had bested the field more than once before.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00221\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWith its signature \u0022Buzz Gold\u0022 color and \u0022angry eyes\u0022 windshield, this would have to be the Georgia Tech entry into the 2014 DBF Competition.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut windy weather proved too much of a challenge at Saturday\u2019s take-off.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt had a hard time moving forward because the winds were 30-35 miles an hour,\u201d said Carl Johnson one of the ASDL research engineers who helped coordinate the competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe irony is, one of our team members had researched wind conditions for Wichita over a 10-year period, calculating wind speed as a function of time so that we went in with a probability distribution that would tell us what the winds would be like at the time we launched. We had figured 5 to 25 miles, but it was actually a lot windier.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00225\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Empire\u0026nbsp;Buzzes Back was the name of this plane, which came in second\u0026nbsp; for its written report in the regular class competition of the SAE International Competition.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJohnson and fellow ASDL\u0026nbsp;research engineer David Moroniti said the entire team learned from its shortfalls and celebrated its victories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEveryone worked together on all four planes,\u201d said Moroniti. \u201cOur goal \u2013 our job \u2013 is to create the optimal - the best plane - so if someone had a strength in one area, he shared that on all of the teams.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat approach worked well for the SAE, where the Georgia Tech team fielded winning submissions in three classes: micro, regular, and advanced.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003Eadvanced class\u003C\/strong\u003E, Georgia Tech\u2019s \u201cReturn of the Buzzed\u201d (Team #219) took home first place for its written design report.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003Eregular class,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Tech\u2019s \u201cThe Empire Buzzes Back\u201d(Team #27) received a second place award for its written design report.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00221\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Cem\u003EStudents took care to transport the planes to safety after their flights. This year\u0027s entries will become next year\u0027s teaching models for Georgia Tech\u0027s SAE teams.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003Emicro class\u003C\/strong\u003E, Tech\u2019s \u201cA New Buzz\u201d (Team #301) took home second place in the category of maximum payload lifted (11.19 pounds, officially). This plane also took home \u0022third place overall\u201d in the micro category.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA longtime participant in both the SAE and DBT competitions, Georgia Tech has established a winning legacy that is the envy of many engineering schools around the country.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0027s prompted the team to develop something of an attitude \u2013 one that does not kindly tolerate second place.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think our team is eager to take revenge next year,\u201d said Johnson, with a hint of a smile on his face. \u201cI don\u2019t mean we need to do \u0027better.\u0027 I mean: we have to\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Ewin\u003C\/em\u003E.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGo Jackets.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMost photos in this story were provided by Viktor Vik Hromyk\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The weekend of April 12 was a busy one for a team of ASDL-led engineering students -- participants in two storied design competitions: the 2014 Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) match-up in Marietta GA, and the 2014 AIAA Design\/Build\/Fly"}],"uid":"27456","created_gmt":"2015-07-15 15:42:48","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:04","author":"Britanny Grace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"2576","name":"AIAA"},{"id":"135131","name":"Carl Johnson"},{"id":"135141","name":"David Moroniti"},{"id":"129851","name":"Dimitri Mavris"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["communications@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}