SAE Announces Winners of the 2004 Aero Design East Competition

DELAND, Fla., April 20 -- The SAE 2004 Aero Design East competition, held last weekend in Deland, Florida, was a great success with the participation of 35 collegiate teams from the United Sates, Canada, and Brazil. The event, part of the SAE Collegiate Design Series was hosted by the University of Central Florida, in association with the Deland Golden Hawks Radio Control Club and North Florida SAE Section.

Overall winners were selected in two (2) classes based on the performance of their unmanned aircraft (UAV), its ability to achieve flight carrying additional weight, a design report, and oral presentation by the team to a panel of judges. Auburn University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering, winners of each class, were joined by the University of Missouri-Rolla, two Brazilian teams, and a Canadian academic squad in achieving top honors. Overall results are as follows:

   Top 3 Overall - Regular Class (point total in parenthesis)
      1st Place - Auburn University - (208.4334)
      2nd Place - Federal University of Minas Gerais - (208.2843)
      3rd Place - Ecole de Technologie Superieure - (202.5802)

   Top 3 Overall - Open Class (point total in parenthesis)
      1st Place - Milwaukee School of Engineering - (147.1968)
      2nd Place - University of Missouri - Rolla - (147.1475)
      3rd Place - Universite Federal do Rio Grande do Norte - (147.0751)

Auburn University received a special award for "Professionalism", presented by the North Florida Section of SAE, and recognition for excellence and achievement was also presented in several categories, which include:

   Most Weight Lifted
      Regular Class - 33.26 lbs.  Cedarville University
      Open Class - 44.10 lbs.  Univ. of Missouri - Rolla

   Best Design Report
      Regular - 62.93 pts. Out of 60 - University of California - Irvine
      Open - 62.665 pts. Out of 70 - Embry Riddle Aero University

   Award for Engineering Design Excellence (Oral Presentation)
      1st Place Regular - Rice University 29.36 pts.
      2nd Place Regular - Universite Federal Grande do Norte 29.66pts
      1st Place Open - University of Akron 25.13pts
      2nd Place Open - Universite Federal Grande do Norte 24.93pts

"SAE extends thanks to all of the competitors, sponsors, and volunteers for this event," stated Shanin Hart, SAE Collegiate Programs and Transition Activities Manager. "In addition to great weather, we saw a great example of how students can transfer technical theories to real world application and learn from the experience. Education is what this event is all about."

Lockheed Martin Corporation is set to host the SAE Aero Design West competition, the second of two annual aerospace events, in Fort Worth, Texas, from June 18-20, 2004.

Additional information regarding this event or the SAE Collegiate Design Series can be found on-line at www.sae.org , click on the students tab. Media questions may be directed to Mark Burd, SAE Public Relations, 1-800-441-2919 or mburd@sae.org.

SAE is a non-profit engineering and scientific organization dedicated to the advancement of mobility technology to better serve humanity. Nearly 84,000 engineers and scientists who are SAE members develop technical information on all forms of self-propelled vehicles, including automobiles, aircraft, aerospace craft, trucks, buses, marine, rail and transit machinery. This information is disseminated through SAE meetings, books, electronic products and databases, technical papers, standards, reports, and professional development programs.