In what has become an annual tradition, Georgia Tech teams placed in the top two in both the undergraduate and graduate level competitions at the American Helicopter Society (AHS) International Student Design Competition, sponsored by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. The competition "challenges students to design a vertical lift aircraft that meets specified requirements, providing a practical exercise for engineering students at accredited colleges and universities around the world."

This year's version of the challenge asked students to design a helicopter capable of navigating a prescribed pylon course with graduate students also being required to submit a simulation package with a video.

Advised by Aerospace Engineering's Dr. Dan Schrage, professor of Rotorcraft Design, the undergraduate team (which partnered with the University of Liverpool) placed first in their competition while the graduate team (which partnered with Middle East Technical University), also advised by Schrage, finished second. 

A Georgia tech graduate team has placed first or second in the competition every year since it began in 1984 while a Tech undergraduate team has placed in the top two in five of the last six years dating back to 2007 when the capstone design sequence in helicopter design was launched at Georgia Tech.
 

Undergraduate Team Members:

Juan Pablo Afman, Michael Avera, Michael Burn, Christopher Cofelice, Peter Johnson, Robert Lee, Ian Moore, Travis Smith, Eliya Win, Gökçin Çınar (METU, Turkey), Özge Sinem Özçakmak (METU, Turkey), Yakut Cansev Küçükosman (METU, Turkey)

Graduate Team Members:

Sylvester Ashok, Dennis Garza, Alek Gavrilovski, Mike Jones (U. Liverpool), Romain Lamour, Ritu Marpu, Morgan Nowak, Frank Patterson, Manmohan Prasad, Venkatakrishnan Shankar, Emma Timson (U. Liverpool), Vatsal Vakharia