August 31, 2009
For release: Immediate
Contact: Kim Smith (703) 684-6777
Georgia Institute of Technology Takes Top Honors
in the 2009 26th Annual AHS/Industry Student Design Competition
ALEXANDRIA, VA – AHS Executive Director M. E. Rhett Flater announced that Georgia Institute of Technology and Liverpool University came in first place in the 27th Student Design Competition graduate category and the University of Maryland captured second place honors.
In the undergraduate category, Georgia Institute of Technology Blue Team won first-place and the Pennsylvania State University came in second. Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics captured the prize for the best new entry.
AgustaWestland was the sponsor of the 27th annual competition which rotates among AgustaWestland, Bell Helicopter Textron, Boeing, Sikorsky, and Eurocopter.
The AHS Student Design Competition, which challenges students to design a vertical lift aircraft which meets specified requirements, provides a practical exercise for engineering students at accredited colleges and universities. The competition promotes student interest in vertical flight technology. The first- and second-place winning teams are awarded a cash stipend and the winning team is invited to the AHS Annual Forum and Technology Display to present the details of their proposal. Members of the teams receive one-day complimentary registration to the Forum, the vertical flight industry’s principal professional technical event. This year, AgustaWestland included a “New Entrant” category to stimulate interest in the competition.
AgustaWestland challenged participants to design a rotor/drive system which could include NOTAR, or Fenestron, tandem rotor or coaxial rotor or even an intermeshing rotor (synchropter) configuration. The purpose of this year’s competition was to design a new, non-conventional rotor drive system for a helicopter.
For those interested in more information about the AHS Student Design Competition please visit our web site at http://www.vtol.org. The web site will also contain the Request for Proposal for the 2009 AHS Student Design Competition as well as the top winning entries from 2008.
AHS International – The Vertical Flight Society is a professional, technical society founded in 1943 that represents the interests of the worldwide vertical flight industry.