SALINA -- For the second time in the last three years, Kansas State University's Aero Design Team has won first place overall in the regular class event at the annual SAE Aero Design Competition West. K-State was among the 31 teams from around the world participating in the regular class event at this year's competition in Van Nuys, CA, March 6-9.
The competition challenges engineering students to plan, design, fabricate, and test a radio-controlled aircraft that can take off and land while carrying the maximum cargo.
The K-State team's biplane, The Purple Berserker, won the regular class competition by lifting a 24.7-pound payload. The team also received first place for its Design Book. The team pilot was Billy Edwards from California, who flew for the team during the 2007 SAE Aero West competition, which also resulted in a first-place win for K-State.
This is the third straight year K-State has ranked first among teams from the U.S. at the competition.
"I am so very proud of these kids and all that they have accomplished since K-State first entered the competition nearly nine years ago," says Terry Beck, professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering and the team's faculty adviser. "This is a real testimony to the amount of effort that the team puts into this extracurricular event, to their determination and dedication to task during all phases of the project, and to the fine example of engineering professionalism they exhibited at the competition itself."
K-State's Aero Team, all mechanical engineering majors, is comprised of Brian Anderson, Dana Bloom, John Elson, Joshua Goertz, Samuel Haugland, Erik Hellmer, Christopher Johnston, Michael Mangus, Esteban Maradona, Gregory Payne, Matthew Roberts, Shane Smith, and Janessa Wedel.
