GT VFS in the news

Georgia Tech Lands on Top at the Vertical Flight Society’s Annual Student Design Competition

29 August 2023

Team Harpy and Team Soteria soar to victory.

A team of Georgia Tech and the United States Military Academy at West Point (West Point) students won first place, and a Georgia Tech and Sapienza University team placed second in the Vertical Flight Society’s (VFS) 40th Annual Student Design Competition (SDC) sponsored by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company.

More information here.

Prof. Marylin Smith Selected to Give Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship

Professor Marilyn Smith was unanimously selected by the Vertical Flight Society (VFS) to give the 2022 Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship. Smith, a faculty member in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering (AE School), will give the 42nd Nikolsky Lecture this coming May in Fort Worth, Texas. More details here.

Marylin Smith
Professor Marilyn Smith

Daniel Guggenheim School Named a Vertical Flight Heritage Site

The American Helicopter Society (AHS) International announced this week that it has selected the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering for inclusion in its Vertical Flight Heritage Sites, a distinction earned by just 10 sites worldwide. More details and news about the school of AE here.

Rotorcraft Simulation Lab

A new Rotorcraft Simulation Lab in the Montgomery Knight building is is under development. More details and full story here.

GT Chapter winner of the AHS Robert Lichten Award

Congratulations to Aarohi Shah for being selected as the 2018 Atlanta/GT Chapter winner of the AHS Robert Lichten Award! More details here.

Dr Rimoli, Aarohi Shah and Dr Smith

2017 AHS Design Competition Results

Two Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering teams have earned honors in the 34th Annual American Helicopter Society (AHS) Student Design Competition (SDC).  The graduate team entry, SWARM”, placed second in the graduate division, while the GT undergraduate entry, “24 Hour Buzz”, placed third.  Since the AHS SDC started in 1984 GT teams have captured first or second place in the graduate category 35 times and first or second place in the undergraduate category 22 times. More details here.

Graduate Entry – SWARM and Undergraduate Entry – 24 Hour Buzz

GT AHS students honored during the AHS 73rd Annual Forum

2017 GT AHS VFF Recipients

Four Georgia Tech students were awarded AHS Vertical Flight Founstation (VFF) Scholarships: Noah (Adam) Bern, Etienne Demers Bouchard, Nandeesh Hiremath and Dhwanil Shukla.
The awards were given during the 73rd annual AHS Forum Grand Banquet, in Fort Worth on May 10th 2017. More details about past winners and VFF here. Congrats to this year’s recipients!

Robotic Landing Gear (RLG) featured at the 2017 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit

The Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Machine Mobility displayed the novel Robotic Landing Gear (RLG) system at the 2017 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit, sponsored by AAAA. The RLG system improves the operational capability of rotorcraft by enabling landings on steeply sloped or rough terrain that a rotorcraft with conventional landing gear would be unable to land upon. The project is currently in its second phase, and the team is developing a RLG system for a 400lb UAV with sponsorship from DARPA and in partnership with Boeing. The professors currently involved are Mark Costello (PI), Claudio Di Leo (co-PI) and Julian Rimoli (co-PI).

Professor Marilyn Smith in Scientific American

Georgia Tech AE professor and GT-AHS academic advisorDr Marilyn Smith, commented on the future of flying cars and self-piloting quad rotors as  means of transportation in Scientific American. See the article here. (Scientific American, March 20, 2017)

Professor Daniel Schrage in Vertiflite

Georgia Tech AE Dr Daniel Schrage’s keynote address during the banquet of 7th AHS VTOL UAS Meeting made an impression on the audience.  “Why Helicopters Can and Should Fly on Mars” presentation was mentioned in Vertiflite the official publication of AHS International. (Vertiflite, March-April 2017)