Who is the RIT Aero Design Team?

The RIT Aero Design Team is a multidisciplinary student-led organization that focuses on design and manufacturing of small-scale aircraft. The team competes in the annual AIAA Design/Build/Fly Competition, creating a brand new aircraft from the ground up each year to address the unique missions and challenges of the competition. Design tasks are split between four sub-teams, each handling a different but equally important aspect of aircraft design: aerodynamics, propulsion and avionics, mission systems, and structures.

Students participating in the team gain valuable knowledge in the fields of aerospace and mechanical engineering, and the competition format accurately emulates the real-world design processes used in major projects within the aerospace industry. Members also develop skills in computer-aided design (CAD), finite element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and coding/simulation. The team makes heavy use of advanced processes such as additive manufacturing, CNC machining, and composite material fabrication.

A focus is placed on ensuring that all members get hands-on with the aircraft and learn the importance of problem solving in a fast-moving environment. Team members see greater success when seeking co-ops and internships thanks to this experience, and many alumni have gone on to work in the aerospace industry at places like NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and more.

The Aero Design Team receives funding through donations and corporate sponsorships to support its competition budget, which consists of major regular purchases such as electronics (motors, batteries, etc.) and materials (carbon fiber, fiberglass, wood, sheet metal, XPS/EPS foam, etc.). All donations received are used exclusively for the team's aircraft and competition preparation, ensuring continued success and improvement for the years to come.

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