4/23/04

AU AEROSPACE ENGINEERING TEAM WINS IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEST

AUBURN -- The Auburn University Flying Tigers, a student team of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, has placed first overall out of 35 teams in the 2004 Society of Automotive Engineers Aero Design East Competition.

The contest, staged earlier this month in Deland, Fla., challenged teams to conceive, design, fabricate and test a radio-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle that could take off and land at full cargo capacity.

Auburn's "War Eagle Lifter" earned the award for overall excellence, the traveling trophy and an award bestowed by fellow competitors on the team exhibiting the highest degree of professionalism.

"Our students worked extremely hard to design and build a great airplane and had a lot of confidence in their design . . . they were determined to finish in high standing," said John Cochran, head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

"I wanted to participate in this project because I love airplanes," said Adam McLarty of Sioux Falls, S.D., team captain and a master's candidate in aerospace engineering. "The competition gave me a chance to see how well I could help engineer a vehicle I had spent the last few years of college learning about."

"I gained knowledge in team guidance and project management, which is a central part of real-world engineering," said one of the team's chief designers, Christoph Burger, a doctoral candidate in aerospace engineering from Freiburg, Germany.

Cochran said a key factor in the Auburn team's success was the lab work many of the members did with UAVs.

"Considering the fact that the team began work on their vehicle in February and the second place team started last July, it was truly a significant accomplishment," he adds.

"One of the best things about being an engineer is creating something," added McLarty. "Whether it's a tool, a software program, a car, or a plane, it really makes you feel good when the product of your labor takes shape and performs the functions you designed it for. What the team gained from this experience is the ability to meet an engineering challenge."

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