The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation recently announced that two teams from Georgia Tech’s Aerospace Engineering program, “Team Zodiac” and “Team PACSat”, won second and third place respectively in the Foundation’s annual Undergraduate Team Space Design Competition.The competition’s main task required teams to design a spacecraft capable of removing large-sized debris from orbit around the Earth at an altitude between 540 and 600 miles, and at an inclination between 82 and 83 degrees.

Both teams received guidance from Professor David Spencer, faculty adviser, and Dr. Carlee Bishop, project adviser.  “Team Zodiac” was comprised of Georgia Tech students Eliot Bignell, Luis I. Reyes Castro, Azariah R. Cornish, Eric James Douglass, Caroline Hilton, Emre Tezcan, and Han Zhang.  “Team PACSat” included students Marco Gomez, Michael Hill, Matt Lee, M. Garrett Sisk, Alexandra Stavros, Eric Stuber, and Conner Volpe.  Both teams will receive a monetary prize from the foundation for their accomplishments.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession.  With over 35,000 members worldwide and 90 corporate partners, the AIAA seeks to bring together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering in aviation, space, and defense