The UCLA branch of AIAA offers hands-on experience and technical management opportunities through its three student projects. Near the end of the school year, each team participates in its respective national competition against leading universities. Gain valuable knowledge and team-building skills to put on your resumes and marvel your interviewers with your stories. This is your chance to apply the material you learn in class!
Design, Build, Fly (DBF)
Project Lead: Steven Diez
E-mail: stevendiez10@gmail.com
Meetings: Thursdays, 6:30PM at Engineering IV 38-138
Cessna Aircraft Company/Raytheon Missile Systems – Student Design/Build/Fly Competition
The annual Design/Build/Fly competition brings in schools from all over the world to provide real-world aircraft design experience for engineering students. Teams are tasked with designing, constructing, and testing an unmanned, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft to meet specified design requirements. Along with the airplane, a professional design report must be submitted. In previous years, design requirements have included various different payloads, size constraints, and propulsion restrictions. Three missions must be completed with the plane, including one speed mission and two payload missions. Design and construction proceed from October through early March, leading up to the competition in mid-April.
Hybrid Propulsion Experiment Rocket Project (HyPE)
Project Lead: Mac Booth
E-mail: mcbooth33@gmail.com or uclarocketproject@gmail.com
Meetings: Wednesdays, 6-8PM at Life Sciences 1803 and 1813
Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition
The UCLA Rocket Project was founded five years ago. The team is composed of undergraduates and graduates from nearly every engineering discipline. Each year teams compete at the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering competition where they must launch and successfully recover a 10lb payload to either 10,000 or 25,000ft above ground level. For the past four years, the UCLA team has been working on developing a hybrid propulsion system that uses nitrous oxide and aluminized paraffin wax. This year, we have developed a sub-scale hybrid motor that will allow us to conduct comprehensive testing to fully characterize our combustion and optimize our rocket. Additional areas of focus for the year include material testing, developing CFD code in MATLAB to accurately determine drag and writing flight software that will enable the rocket to shut off its engine and accurately reach a predetermined altitude.
Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (AUAV)
Project Lead: Sennan Sulaiman
E-mail: s.sulaiman@ucla.edu
Meetings: Tuesdays, 6PM at Life Sciences 1803 and 1813
AUVSI - Student UAS Competition and International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC)
AUVSI hosts two international student competitions that take the focus of aeronautical engineering to the avionics level. The Student UAS Competition involves an autonomous unmanned aircraft vehicle capable of autonomous navigation through designated waypoints, autonomous flight maneuvers, and real-time mission updates. The emphasis is on UAV surveillance capability, requiring real-time autonomous image capturing of targets and subsequent autonomous target recognition. The IARC competition is an indoor rotary aerial vehicle competition that places emphasis on covert operations, requiring an autonomous rotary vehicle to infiltrate and navigate a maze with the objective of acquiring a hidden flash drive and exiting the maze. Competition dates for both AUVSI student competitions are held in the summer.