Aerospace Engineering Senior Design Symposium
Each year, seniors from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering participate in Senior Design, in which students showcase a variety of senior design projects that they built throughout the semester.
The course is split into a Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Course and an Aerospace Engineering Senior Design Course, both of which task students with specific issues they must solve by designing and building a prototype of a product or device that could aid in a variety of different applications.
In the 2024 Aerospace Engineering Senior Design course, there were 15 teams comprised of 94 total students. Five teams were tasked with developing Inflatable Technologies, Structures, and Systems to support Lunar Operations. Four teams built fixed-wing aircrafts and four teams built multi-copter aircrafts, both of which were tasked with developing an Unmanned Aerial System to Support advancing aviation for natural disasters.
One team from each of these three sections was selected by judges as the winners of their respective sections during the annual Aerospace Engineering Senior Design Symposium on Monday, April 8. To win over the judges and show the capabilities of their designs, teams conducted 15 minute presentations in the morning and poster sessions in the afternoon – during which friends, family, colleagues and mentors came out in droves to see the seniors’ hard work in action.
Aerospace Engineering Senior Design Instructor Dr. Felix Ewere presented three Awards for Outstanding Project Managers in 2024, which were awarded to three team leads that went above and beyond in the development of their projects. This year’s winners were Tobias Hullette of the fixed-wing section, Matthew Yacovone of the space section, and Michael Reid of multi-copter section.
In the spacecraft section, Team Spacepack Balloonatics (Project Name: ARISE – Astronaut Recovery Inflatable Support Equipment) was declared the winner. Their team includes Izabella Sciora, Dean Bui, Malachy Kerrigan, Devin Johnson, Brooke Schubarg, Trevor Henderson and Thomas Dolson.
Team Stellar Propellers (Aircraft Name: SYZYGY) was declared the winner of the multi-copter section and their team was made up of Luke Wickelgren, Paul Randolph, Ashutosh Chandravanshi, Hayne Beard and Spencer Martindale.
In the fixed-wing section, Team REACHR (Project Name: Reconnaissance and Emergency Aircraft for Critical Hurricane Relief, Aircraft name: HERO1) was the winner. Team members included Brian Shi, Caleb Kebede, Jose Vizcarrondo, Lucas Andrews, Sebastian Perna and Tobias Hullette. Team REACHR was also nominated to compete in NASA’s 2024 Blue Skies Competition, where they will present HERO 1 and their work on the competions annual theme: Advancing Aviation for Natural Disasters.
Another team was comprised of NC State’s AIAA Design Build Fly (DBF) Team, whose mission in 2024 was to design and manufacture a fixed-wing Urban Air Mobility aircraft that can perform a medical transport flight and carry passengers in separate configurations.
The 2024 DBF team consisted of Emily Hayman, Alex Elchik, Ajay Pandya, Rishi Ghosh, Nathan Baker, Maya Keele and Aaron Hart. The team constructed The Wolfline, designed to be able
to act as a UAM vehicle and carry flight crew, medical crew with equipment, and passengers.
One final team was comprised of the NC State High-Powered Rocketry Team, also known as “Tacho-Lycos,” which each year constructs a rocket to compete in NASA’s Student Launch Competition. In 2024, the team consisted of eight senior design students: Hanna McDaniel, Cameron Brown, Matthew Simpson, Braden Rueda, Franklin Rice, Joseph Alonso, Michael Wax and Shyanne Large. These students constructed their 2024 Rocket, which was taken to the compete against other teams from across the country in Huntsville, Alabama between April 10 and 14. Competition results will be announced this June.
Join us at our next Aerospace Engineering Senior Design Symposium
Coming Spring 2025
Aerospace Engineering Senior Design Posters