Our Big Day – Friday, April 12, 2024
What is ASAE?
We spend each year designing, manufacturing, testing, and flying aircraft in preparation for the SAE International Aero-Design West competition each Spring. The rules of the competition push our team to learn important skills, such as structural and aerodynamical analysis, to optimize our design and payload capacity in a friendly competitive environment against other universities from around the world. Sustainability is a central pillar of the competition, emphasizing the goal of developing an electric airplane that not only completes a two-minute flight circuit efficiently but also does so while bearing a payload of 20 pounds. This challenge underscores the commitment to advancing environmentally responsible aviation technologies that align with the principles of sustainable development.
Sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the competition tests our design, organizational, and engineering abilities at a far greater magnitude than what we learn in the classroom. At the competition we are scored in several categories: design, presentation, maximum payload, and flight skill.
