Univ. of Kansas Students Dominate Competition

Students from the University of Kansas took first, second and third place in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 2011-12 Individual Aircraft Design Competition.

The victory continues the program’s strong tradition of success in the world’s largest and longest running aircraft design competition, with the University winning more awards from the AIAA than any other school.

“This is the Olympics of aerospace engineering and our students have swept the Olympics,” says Dr. Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, an associate professor in aerospace engineering and the project advisor.

The contest focused on designing an unlimited class plane for the Reno Air Races.

Graduate student Samantha Schueler took first place in the contest with her design, “Cratus,” which she designed as a senior last year as part of her airplane design class.

Schueler emphasized safety in her design. She began working before the crash at the 2011 Reno Air Race, a crash that killed 11 people, 10 of which were spectators.

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