By Lily Yengle ‘13

Photo courtesy of Kevin Doty ‘13

Fourteen mechanical engineering seniors recently placed 11th out of 39 teams in an international aero design competition, better than any previous year. Team Leader Kevin Doty ‘13 talked about all the hard work that went into the project and how they held their own in the international competition.

LY: Can you tell me about the Aero Design Team?

KD: Every mechanical engineering senior is required to participate in either a senior design project or do a thesis. There are usually four different senior design projects offered each year, one of them being the Aero Design project. It counts as two classes (one in the fall, and one in the spring). The annual competition is called the SAE Aero Design Competition. It is run by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and this year it was sponsored by Lockheed Martin (a well-known large aerospace company).

LY:  How do you go about designing a remote control airplane? Can you explain the project in a way non-mechanical engineers could understand?

KD: We were given the 50-page 2013 SAE Aero Design Competition rule book in the beginning of the year. It basically says what can and cannot be used when building the plane (everyone uses the same engine, and the plane can only be so big, and certain materials are not allowed). It also states the competition objectives – the main one being to successfully fly a full circuit of the field while carrying as much weight as possible. The more weight, the more points.

KD: First we had to research how airplanes fly, and what makes them fly well. Then we sat down as a team and drew up a bunch of different designs. Almost every single component of the airplane had to be built from scratch. Ideas started on chalkboards and pieces of paper, which then turned into 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) models on the computer. Nine guys stayed during winter break and worked all day every day for no additional class credit. We completed construction in February and test flew the plane several times before leaving for the competition.

LY: You guys traveled all the way to Fort Worth, Texas for an international competition. What was it like competing at such an intense level?

KD: Ten of us drove three separate vehicles all the way to Texas and back. It was a blast. It was very intense during the competition flight rounds (there were six), especially each time we flew. There were hundreds of people watching, and it was nerve wracking. We just wanted to represent our school well.

LY:  Did you name your airplane?

KD: Our airplane was called “That Won’t Fly” and the logo was a pointing arm (pointing to the rest of the competition). It got a lot of laughs out of a lot of people.

LY:  How did you do in the competition?

KD: Lafayette has been participating in the Aero Design Competition for over 10 years, and this year was the best Lafayette has ever performed. We placed 11th out of 39 teams overall. Out of U.S. teams, we placed 6th. Our 10.4 lb airplane was able to lift and fly an additional 16.6 pounds.

LY:  What would you want people to know about this project?

KD: I just wish more people on campus knew about the mechanical engineering senior projects in general. We are in the basement of Acopian, so no one ever sees or knows what goes on. A lot of really cool stuff goes on that I think needs to be seen by everyone, because I think a lot of people would enjoy it!

LY:  Any plans for what to do with the plane now that the competition is over?

KD: Since we used about $8000 worth of the school’s money for this project, the airplane is technically owned by the school. It will remain in the lab for future teams to learn from.

Senior Mechanical Engineer Aero Design Team Members

Mike Adamson

Alex Caballero

Eric Docknevich

Kevin Doty

James Dorsey

Mike DeGirolamo

Bill Hendra

Seth Katz

Andrei Koch

Jonathan Morgan

Ross Perry

Andrew Ruck

Andy Rose

Mike Tsai