When Stephen Schneider ‘09 and Greg Fullenkamp ’09 arrived in Kennesaw, Ga. earlier this month, they’d never flown the airplane they were entering in the Society of Automotive Engineers Aero Design competition. They’d watched their 15-pound creation taxi along the Union track, but that was it.
Nevertheless, the mechanical engineering students, coached by Ashok Ramasubramanian, held their own in the three-day event, which drew contenders from schools in Canada, Poland, Mexico, Venezuela, Germany, Brazil and India.
“Not having tested the plane before competition, it was satisfying to see it take its first flight,” Fullenkamp said. “We didn’t win, but we were able to stand up to the competition – at least most of it.”
It’s been nearly a decade since Union last participated in the contest, according to Ramasubramanian, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Unfortunately, the College’s radio-controlled plane didn’t get off the ground that year.
Schneider and Fullenkamp faced their own technical hurdle when their engine failed to start. With some diagnostic help from another team, the duo’s aircraft ultimately performed well in flight trials.
“We finished 21st out of 44 teams,” said Ramasubramanian. “If we were scored just on flight performance, we would have finished higher.”
The Union plane, which has a wing-span of about six feet, carried a payload of 13.2 pounds during flight trials. The overall winning team, from Brazil, carried 28 pounds and excelled in the competition’s second crucial challenge.
During the oral presentation portion, each team tried to convince a mock government customer to buy its plane.
“We didn’t do that well in the oral competition,” Ramasubramanian said. “We didn’t know what to expect and we didn’t get to see the other teams present.”
“We made lots of rookie mistakes that cost us points,” he added. “We’ll have to figure that presentation out.”
Despite their setbacks, Schneider, Fullenkamp and Ramasubramanian consider their performance a great success. It was also a valuable learning experience.
“This was real-life, real-time engineering,” Ramasubramanian said. “Planes that landed usually sustained some damage, so the students would run off to the tent and furiously patch and glue to repair them.”
Schneider and Fullenkamp, who were also coached by Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Frank Wicks, plan to give an advice-filled presentation to juniors interested in competing next year.
“We’ll tell them to start preparing way early,” Schneider said. “At the competition, before anyone had even flown, people were already asking the organizers when the rules for the 2010 contest might be published.”