SAE Aero Design compresses a full engineering cycle into a school year, and every part of it is student work.
Members follow their own analysis through to the hardware it turns into, and onto the flight line with it.
The competition sets the rule set and the date. That deadline is what turns a good idea into a finished aircraft, and it is the closest thing college offers to a program schedule.
One aircraft pulls together aerodynamics, structures, electronics, and manufacturing. You will see how your work lands on everyone else's desk and learn to hand off your work cleanly.
In a founding year the people who show up shape how the team works, and you can put your name on the first aircraft.
Students who want to learn by building and who will keep showing up. Every skill on this list is one we plan to teach this year.
Most members join one of the four sub-teams or the business and operations track. Tell us what pulls you in and we will help you find a spot.
Airfoil sweeps and sizing studies that set the design targets the rest of the team builds to.
Spars, ribs, and joints that hold up under flight loads while keeping the aircraft as light as the rules allow.
Motors, batteries, servos, radio control, and a power layout that behaves the same on the tenth flight as the first.
Composites, 3D printing, and shop fabrication, plus the jigs and assembly that turn drawings into an airframe.
The track that keeps the team running: sponsorship and fundraising, budget and logistics, social media, outreach, and event planning. No engineering background needed, and the work is what pays for the aircraft.
Each sub-team already has a lead in place. You will work directly with them and own a piece of the aircraft from your first project.
No resume, no interview round. Get in touch and tell us where you want to work. There is no deadline, but the work you land on depends on when you join. See the timeline in About for more.
Send a note through the contact form or email connect@aerostevens.com. Tell us your year, your major, and what you are curious about.
We will walk you through the project, the competition, and the sub-teams. Come with questions. There is no commitment attached.
Choose the sub-team or the business track that fits you, or tell us you want to lead one. From there you are on the team.
No. In our founding year we are building the team's skills together, and much of being on the team is learning by doing. Bring curiosity and we will teach the rest.
It is flexible and it scales with what you want to take on. We are planning on weekly sub-team meetings plus build time, with heavier stretches around design reviews and in the weeks before the competition.
All of them. Engineering majors find an obvious home on the technical sub-teams, but the team also needs business, design, communications, and project-management strength. Whatever you study, there is work here for you.
As a founding-year team we are still finalizing how the program is funded. We anticipate that the only dues or costs would be for travel to competition, but what exactly that will look like is still being determined. Hopefully Stevens itself will be able to cover most of travel.
Exact times and location are not set yet; we will send an update soon. Sub-team meetings will be weekly, with a few GBMs during the semester as optional social events. Leadership also meets weekly, and any member is welcome to sit in and weigh in.
