Kolkata, September 2: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has made a remarkable debut in the ‘Design/Build/Fly’ competition organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in Wichita, Kansas. This was IIT Kharagpur’s first participation in this prestigious event.
Competing against 98 university teams from 12 countries and 1,179 participants, IIT Kharagpur’s team achieved an impressive ranking of 39th globally and 5th in Asia, securing the highest total score among all Indian teams.
In just four months, a 21-member student team from IIT Kharagpur designed, built, tested, and successfully flew a complete aircraft. This achievement showcased their engineering skills on a global stage.
“From aerodynamics and structures to propulsion, avionics, CAD, manufacturing, and flight validation, the students transformed concepts into a flyable aircraft within a tight timeframe, demonstrating the power of hands-on engineering, teamwork, and innovation,” the institute stated.
This success was made possible due to the robust support from the Aerospace Engineering Department and the Aerial Robotics Kharagpur (ARK) lab, along with mentorship from Professors Arnab Roy, Anup Ghosh, Naba Kumar Peyada, Sandeep Saha, and Somesh Kumar.
This ranking is not just a number; it marks IIT Kharagpur’s impressive entry into one of the world’s toughest student aircraft design competitions. It also represents a significant step towards strengthening experience-based learning, innovation, and a culture of excellence in aerospace engineering.
This year’s competition marked its 30th anniversary. Out of 175 proposals submitted and evaluated, 102 teams were invited to submit design reports for the next phase of the competition. A total of 98 teams submitted their design reports, with 89 teams participating in the fly-off, including 17 international teams.
Over 1,200 students, faculty, and guests attended the event. Among the 89 participating teams, 83 completed the tech inspection. Out of 197 official flight attempts, 143 were successful, with 73 teams achieving at least one successful flight, and 17 teams completing all missions (one ground and three flight missions).
The AIAA noted that the quality of the teams, their preparation for the competition, and the execution of flights were outstanding.
This year’s competition theme was ‘Banner Towing Bush Plane.’ The first mission was a test flight, requiring the aircraft to complete three laps within five minutes. The second mission was a charter flight, with scores based on the number of passengers (rubber ducks) and cargo (hockey pucks) carried, as well as the number of laps completed and battery capacity.
The final mission involved a banner-towing flight, where scores depended on the banner length, number of laps completed, and the aircraft’s wingspan (RAC).
Teams also had to complete a ground mission, demonstrating their ability to board and disembark passengers before converting the aircraft to a banner-towing configuration. The University of Ljubljana claimed first place, while the University of Washington-Seattle was the first runner-up. The University of California, Los Angeles secured third place.
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