University of Birmingham: Birmingham aerospace students win prestigious international light aircraft design competition

Out of the fifty original entrants to the competition, four projects made it through to the final round. Each finalist was invited to present their designs at the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Headquarters, Hamilton Place, London, on Monday 14 November 2022. The team prepared a short, 10 minute video, to explain the key features and rational for their design.

Birmingham’s winning team designed an all-electric piloted aircraft able to deliver medical and food supplies to unprepared airstrips in remote areas of the world. Solar panel-based charging infrastructure enables the aircraft to operate independently of grid electricity infrastructure.

The RAeS judges were impressed by Birmingham’s ‘comprehensive submission’ prepared by the team of seven (Alex Chiu, Brandon Harris, Haleem Khan, Ollie Reynolds, Joshua Ruck, Kishan Sicotra and Jack Smith).

The team comprised of seven students (Alex Chiu, Brandon Harris, Haleem Khan, Ollie Reynolds, Joshua Ruck, Kishan Sicotra and Jack Smith). All were drawn from the first cohort of Birmingham’s new Masters in Aerospace Engineering degree.

The students were co-supervised by Dr Michael Bromfield and Dr Mark Ward from the School of Metallurgy and Materials. They also benefited from feedback at the preliminary design review stage by external industry experts Ivan Shaw, a renowned UK aircraft designer and Michael Duncalfe, a highly experienced Mission Aviation Fellowship bush pilot.