Gold medals for Poznan University of Technology Team in SAE Aero Design
On 6-8 April 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA took place the competition of Society of Automotive Engineers SAE Aero Design West 2018.
The representation of the Academic Aviation Club of Poznan University of Technology received Gold medals
1st place in the general classification of the Regular class
1st place in the flight classification
1st place in the classification of technical presentations
SAE Aero Design is an international academic competition organized for over 30 years by the American Association of Transport Engineers Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in cooperation with with SolidWorks, Lockheed Martin or ANSYS. The task of the participants - student groups from around the world - is to design and build the aircraft model, in accordance with the restrictions and requirements of the regulations imposed by the organizer of the competition. This year, the students' task was to design and build an airplane, which, with the lowest possible mass, will raise the largest number of sets: tennis ball + metal bar weighing 230 g. Tennis balls symbolize passengers while bars store their luggage. The rules of the competition define the material from which the plane is to be made and the type and power of the drive. In addition to the documentation of the team, they must present a technical presentation and then lift the model with the largest possible weight in flight. The competition teaches independent solving of technical, organizational and logistic problems, group work skills, the art of presenting and documenting achievements. According to Professor Jerzy Nawrocki from the Poznan University of Technology "SAE AeroDesign type competitions transform learning from lecture and textbook (learning by reading) to project (learning by doing)."The representation was supported financially and organisationally by the Poznan University of Technology in the persons of the Rector and Vice-Rectors, the Chancellor, deans of the faculties, as well as the Aeroklub Poznański. The start in the competition took place as part of the Best of the Best 2.0 program funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland. In addition to rivalry in California, students of the Poznan University of Technology as part of the project took part in the competition SAE Aero Design Mexico 2018 (February 23-24, Silao, Mexico) and SAE Aero Design USA East 2018 (March 9-11, Lakeland, USA). The financial support was also provided by the city of Poznań, the city of Środa Wielkopolska, the Czerwonak commune and the Schlosser company.
The start of the team in the honorary patronage was taken by the Rector of the Poznan University of Technology, prof. Tomasz Łodygowski, the President of the City of Poznań, Mr. Jacek Jaśkowiak and the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Mexico.
In the regular class, 37 teams from around the world competed. Among the bands should be mentioned, among others representations of the USA, Canada, India, Mexico, Egypt, China and Poland.
The team was composed of students of the Poznań University of Technology: Anna Kettner, Mateusz Podziński, Kamil Dombek, Michał Mendyk, Michał Próchnicki, Patryk Szkudlarek, Oskar Gierszewski, Krzysztof Ćwian, and Krzysztof Graczyk. The scientific supervisor of the SAE team was dr inż. Radosław Górzeński.