42nd Annual Student Design Competition - Pioneering Hydrogen-Electric VTOL

The Vertical Flight Society's annual Student Design Competition challenges students to design a vertical lift aircraft that meets specified requirements, provides a practical exercise for engineering students at colleges and universities around the world and promotes student interest in vertical flight technology. Each of the winning teams is awarded a cash stipend, while each of the first-place winning teams are invited to the Vertical Flight Society's Annual Forum and Technology Display to present the details of their designs. Members of the teams receive complimentary registration to the Forum, the vertical flight industry’s principal professional technical event, which promotes vertical flight technology advancement.

This year’s Student Design Competition is “Pioneering Hydrogen-Electric VTOL”. With growing environmental concerns, the aviation sector is seeking to reduce its global carbon footprint. One promising research field is the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier instead of the current fossil fuel energy. For electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, hydrogen (H2) may become an alternative energy carrier to curb carbon emissions of this transportation sector. The goal of this year’s SDC RFP is to conceptually design an electric VTOL using hydrogen-only propulsion, while meeting several requirement constraints. The RFP is a unique opportunity for university teams to understand and overcome the specific challenges and requirements of a passenger carrying hydrogen-powered VTOL aircraft.

Who may participate

All undergraduate and graduate students from any school (university or college) may participate in this competition, with the exception of countries or persons prohibited by the United States Government. A student may be full-time or part-time; their education level will be considered in the classification of their team.

Team information: roles, size and number of teams

The formation of project teams is encouraged and must follow these rules:

• ALL teams, regardless of size, MUST name at least one (1) faculty advisor in order to compete
• Maximum number of students on a single-university team is ten (10)
• Minimum team size is one (1), an individual
• Schools may form more than one team, and each team may submit a proposal, but each team is limited to a maximum of ten (10) students
• A student may be a member of one team only

• Teams are allowed to include up to two external (2) advisors e.g., from industry and/or government organizations to mentor/advise on the design. The advisors’ roles should be limited to providing feedback on existing ideas/designs. External advisors from the current sponsor of the RFP are NOT allowed.

We look favorably upon the development of collaborative, multi-university teams for the added experience gained in education and project management. The maximum number of students for a multi-university team is twelve (12), distributed in any manner over the multi-university team.

The members of a team must be named in the Letter of Intent (LOI).

Sikorsky will provide the funds for the awards through the Society and final submissions are judged in three (3) categories:

Undergraduate category:

• 1st place: $2,000
• 2nd place: $1,200

• 3rd place: $750

Graduate category:

• 1st place: $2,500
• 2nd place: $1,800

• 3rd place: $1,000

Best first time entrant:

• $500 (Undergraduate)
• $750 (Graduate)