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UAS Challenge

 

Why participate?

The opportunity to take part in product development from an initial concept right through to an operational prototype was very useful. This helped develop my understanding of the complex processes, evaluation and testing that has to take place in order to develop a prototype, which is something you usually don't see from start to finish.

James Lyall Loughborough UAS 2016 - winning team member

Benefits for participating universities

  • Provide real-world engineering experience to students
  • Engage industry partners in your curriculum and research activities
  • Showcase university strengths in a public forum
  • Competition event boosts motivation in project work
  • High student satisfaction
  • Strong recruitment tool
  • Supports accreditation.

Integration with university curriculum

The Challenge encourages students to follow a system engineering process, through requirements generation, design, manufacture, verification, and the final validation at the competition event. This can be integrated, including coursework exercises, into one or more units covering:

  • Systems engineering
  • Team projects
  • Design projects
  • Research projects
  • Business/professional studies
  • Aerodynamics/performance

Practical/lab exercises can be built around the testing skills needed. The Challenge provides a natural focus for team design or research projects.

Advice is available from other universities and companies who have successfully integrated it into their degree/graduate scheme – get in touch with us for more info.

In scrutineering, we were able to inspect closely the platforms’ structural and systems integrity and assess the airworthiness of the aircraft as a whole. Across the board, the teams had grasped the technical attributes required and the implications air safety; the Challenge proved an invaluable means of converting theoretical designs into practical, safe and capable aircraft.

Rod Williams Chief Scrutineer, UAS Challenge

Benefits for students and teams

  • Obtain practical aerospace engineering skills for industry
  • Work with mentors from leading aerospace organizations to support you throughout the project
  • Gain real-world engineering experience before stepping into a job
  • Meet leading professionals in aerospace engineering and flight safety
  • Develop connections and network with like-minded students
  • Learn more about the next generation of aircraft
  • Throughout the competition, students will be provided opportunities to develop and demonstrate their technical, engineering design and manufacturing skills
  • A platform to enhance and practice key soft skills such as team-working, time management, project management, budgeting and presentation skills
  • Network with potential future employers and win a chance to visit their office for a week!

It was a great opportunity for a real-life challenge, with design choices, risks and mission planning on display for this competitive event. I used the skills gained in this group project to design and build an industrial UAV for my MSc Individual Project.

University of Southampton team member

Get in touch

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