November 8, 2006 – Reston, Virginia –The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of its 2005/2006 Student Design Competitions. Administered by AIAA’s Student Programs Department, these competitions are part of a wide-reaching program that recognizes excellence in aerospace engineering study at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Judged by members of AIAA Technical Committees, AIAA Foundation Student Design Competitions seek to increase the practical skills of aerospace engineering undergraduate and graduate students in both individual and team conditions. Cash awards are given to the first three places in each of the student design competitions.

Specific requests for proposals (RFPs) are issued, and either teams of 3 to10 or individual undergraduate/graduate students compete to devise the best design to fit the RFP in a given time period. A rigorous series of requirements and design objectives must be adhered to, and the final report must accommodate not only the design itself, but also the organization and management of the project.

The winners (by competition) are:

Undergraduate Team Aircraft—Homeland Defense Interceptor

1st Place—California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo—Black Mamba

  • David Hueftle
  • Benjamin Bickley
  • Kelly Dahl
  • Joseph Gotzler
  • Ryan Huthmacher
  • Laura Bunker
  • Daniel Richardson

Faculty Advisor: David Hall

2nd Place—California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo—Defiant

  • Robert Austin
  • Ted Garbeff
  • Teresa Quinliven
  • Andrew Brown
  • Chris Kearney
  • Kristi Stavros
  • Kiel Carreau
  • Kevin Lutke

Faculty Advisor: David Hall

3rd Place—RMIT University-Kestrel

  • Riana Haldane
  • Joanne Braganza
  • Geraldine Loh
  • Sunny Dhingra
  • Anthony Michael Ferronato
  • Guy Ortlipp
  • Shayne Sommerville
  • James Cade
  • Ben Criddle
  • Michael Dromgool

Faculty Advisor: Cees Bil

Graduate Team Aircraft—Design of a Fast and Efficient Air Taxi (FEAT)

1st Place—Not Awarded

2nd Place—The Ohio State University

  • Trevor Goerig
  • Peter Munther Clifford Whitfield Adam Wise

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gerald Gregorek

Undergraduate Team Space—New Decelerator System for Capsules Reentering from Deep Space

1st Place— Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University—RIPTCORD

  • Christopher Philyaw
  • Michael Balch
  • Mohammed Islam
  • Alex Menkhaus
  • Kieumi Nguyen
  • James Russell
  • Jason Solimani
  • Daniel Spracher
  • Christopher Szwec
  • Amanda Yothers

Faculty Advisor: Christopher Hall

2nd Place—Pennsylvania State University—Fireball

  • Cody Boyd
  • Snehil Chandra
  • Richard Jacobs
  • Rob Deutchman
  • Tim Murray
  • Brad Petrilla
  • Diana Valtierra

Faculty Advisor: David Spencer

3rd Place—University of Michigan—Tethered Re-Entry Decelerator System (TREDS)

  • Nathan N. Meredith
  • Catlin Garcia
  • Gerasimos Houpis
  • Danny Lau
  • Colin Miranda
  • Shane Moore
  • Martin Pietraszkiewicz
  • Richard Prasad
  • Jeffrey Schloemer
  • David Williams

Faculty Advisors: Brian E. Gilchrist, Peter Washabaugh

Undergraduate Team Space Transportation—Lunar Transportation System

1st Place—Georgia Institute of Technology—Project M Train

  • Jonathan Sharma
  • Anna Bancroft
  • Chris Lowder
  • Jeff Yunes
  • Kevin Bokelmann
  • Kyle Brown
  • Matthew Prior
  • Parker Hancock
  • Raj Ghosh
  • Steve Deisher

Faculty Advisor: Bruce Glasgow

2nd Place—University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign—Project Khonsu

  • Vladimir Kudinok
  • Stephanie Milczarek
  • Keith O’Donnell
  • John Warner
  • Philip Patnaude
  • Paul Miles
  • Steven Eberle
  • Scott Tashakkor

Faculty Advisor: Victoria Coverstone

3rd Place (tie)—University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign—Project Janus

  • Derek Bushman
  • Ethan Chew
  • Brad DeBlauw
  • Matt Giacomi
  • Eli Lazar
  • Ronak Patel
  • Daniel Reitz
  • Adam Trebs

Faculty Advisor: Victoria Coverstone

3rd Place (tie)—University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign—The Hyperion Project

  • John Evans
  • Keven Joye
  • John Mackin
  • Paul Martin
  • Derek Meyer
  • James Owens
  • Mark Schaffer
  • Jessica Senning

Faculty Advisor: Victoria Coverstone

Undergraduate Team Engine—Improved Propulsion System for a 50-Passenger Regional Jet

1st Place—University of Cincinnati—GTS

  • Michael Wolff
  • Brandon Garrett
  • Donald Dlesk Jr.
  • Charles Skrovan
  • Terry Richter
  • Brad Pasmore
  • Jamie Schoger

Faculty Advisor: Ian Haliwell

2nd Place—California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo—CP2006 Turbofan Engine

  • Chris Marino
  • Joseph Gotzler
  • Laura Mendez
  • Zachary Nichols
  • Brian Greiner
  • Seth Pace

Faculty Advisor: Mark Waters

3rd Place (tie)— University of Cincinnati—Turbine Engine Group

  • Eyad Elhasan
  • Itunu Fanegan
  • Adam Follrod
  • Teodor Kanev
  • Doug Stenger
  • Joe Stern
  • Aric Woolley

Faculty Advisor: Awatef Hamed

Headquartered in suburban Washington, DC, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) serves over 35,000 members in 65 regional sections and 79 countries. AIAA membership is drawn from all levels of industry, academia, private research organizations, and government and focuses on emerging technologies in aviation, space and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org.

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