UA Engineering Students to Compete in Aircraft Contest

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A small airplane built by University of Alabama engineering students will soon take to the sky in an international competition.

The High Tide, a team of aerospace engineering students from the College of Engineering, will compete with its airplane in the AIAA Student Design/Build/Fly competition hosted by Cessna Aircraft and Raytheon in Wichita, Kan., April 13-15.

The team must design, document and fabricate a radio-controlled aircraft that demonstrates balance and flight handling on specified missions.

The first mission times how many laps the airplane can complete in four minutes. The second mission requires the aircraft to carry “passengers,” represented by aluminum bars. In the final mission, the aircraft must carry two liters of water at a specific altitude and dump the water. The team’s success depends on aircraft performance along with a practical and affordable design.

The team received a $5,000 grant from the Alabama Space Grant Consortium for its project and will be competing against 80 teams from around the world.

The team consists of seniors majoring in aerospace engineering:

• Kenny Bevers from Clanton

• Chaize DeSio from Chesapeake, Va.

• Emily Jones from Florence

• Courtney Kronenberger from Daphne

• Chad Magee from Collierville, Tenn.

• Jesse Miller from Crossville

• Kevin Miller from Pleasant Prairie, Wis.

• Kory O’Brien from Wetumpka

• John Palmore from Mobile

Dr. Thomas A. Zeiler, associate professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics, is the team’s adviser. Zeiler is the director for this senior design course and assists the team during production.

The AIAA is a professional society focused on advancing aerospace science, engineering, technology, operations and policy. Its contest provides a real-world aircraft design experience. Engineering students implement, design and test their analytic studies.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 3,300 students and more than 100 faculty. In the last eight years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater, Hollings, Portz and Truman scholars.