Momentum - November 2019 - 19

SAE NEWS

NEW SAE STUDENT CHALLENGE
CENTERS ON CONNECTED AIRCRAFT
IN THE SAE AEROCONNECT CHALLENGE,
university student teams will identify a
real-world connected aircraft problem
and develop a conceptual design of an
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system
to solve the problem. A UAV system
is defined as two or more UAVs; any
required ground elements including
launch and recovery element; ground
support equipment; and transportation
for the system.
This SAE competition is different from
current Collegiate Design Series programs
in that there is no vehicle to build or
retrofit. Instead, students will be judged
on a Conceptual Design Report, a Failure
Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) document,
a Technical Presentation to a panel of
industry judges, and a "showcase booth"
at an SAE conference, AeroTech, in 2020.
"We'd like to broaden our student
reach outside of traditional programming
and are confident that AeroConnect
Challenge will bring in more students
in computer software, in addition to
our current mobility engineer pool
of students," explained SAE's Allison
Hostetler, University Program Manager.
"Multidisciplinary teams will be needed to
do well in the competition."
As with SAE's other student
competitions, the goal of AeroConnect
Challenge is to prepare students for
mobility engineering careers. "We really
want to see an increase in the number
of qualified student candidates that
can participate through SAE's PreProfessional Development programming,"
said Hostetler.
Registration will max at 40 teams at
the inaugural competition, which will be
held in conjunction with the larger SAE
AeroTech conference slated for March
17-19 in Pasadena, Calif. The registration
deadline is December 2, 2019.
Because there is no physical vehicle
to design or retrofit, Hostetler's team
believes that universities will be able to
put together teams capable of meeting
AeroConnect Challenge requirements

MOMENTUM

One of the goals for the AeroConnect Challenge is the formation of teams that are more
multidisciplinary in nature than those in other SAE student competitions.

within a more condensed timeframe
compared to other SAE competitions;
the first deadline is February 1, 2020,
for two items: a Concept Design Report
(worth up to 400 points) and an FMEA
document (worth up to 100 points).
The other two scoring events will take
place on the exhibition floor during the
AeroTech conference. On-site teams will
participate in a 45-minute Preliminary
Design Presentation (worth 300 points).
Hosteteler said this will be "an opportunity
for students to really showcase their
knowledge and development of theory
and problem-solving skills in front of
aerospace industry professionals who are
participating in the event."
The final scoring event is a showcase
space on the exhibit floor, which is a
unique new piece to this challenge.
Teams will be judged on the quality of
their booth, which will be displayed on
the conference exhibition floor alongside
AeroTech sponsoring companies. Judges
will view the booths and be able to ask
the team questions about their display.
There will be a different "mission"
each year of the AeroConect Challenge.

The location of the competition helps
determine the nature of the mission,
which for 2020 is: "Wildfires are expected
to once again impact California in 2020,
and local authorities are looking for new
rapidly deployable unmanned aerial
vehicle UAV systems to support the firefighting mission."
Cash prizes between $250, $500, and
$1,000 will be awarded to teams placing
in the top three in each scoring event,
with the overall winner receiving an
additional $5,000 ($3,000 for second
overall and $1,750 for third).
One of the main reasons for holding
the competition within the AeroTech
conference is to expose students to
one of SAE's professional conferences.
Among other benefits, SAE Student and
Professional Members get a registration
discount on SAE conferences.
More details about the mission and
other aspects of the competition can be
found at sae.org/attend/student-events/
aeroconnect-challenge.

By Patrick Ponticel, MOMENTUM editor

November 2019 19
https://www.sae.org/attend/student-events/aeroconnect-challenge https://www.sae.org/attend/student-events/aeroconnect-challenge
Momentum - November 2019

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