Students from the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) won four medals – including two gold – at the international SAE Aero Design 2025 competition held in the United States.
SAE Aero Design is an international competition organized by SAE International that brings together the best student teams from around the world each year. The goal of the competition is to design, build, and test a remote-controlled aircraft capable of completing a specific mission.
SAE Aero Design features three competition classes — Regular, Advanced, and Micro.
1. Regular Class is an all-electric class designed to develop a fundamental understanding of aircraft design.
2. Advanced Class is an all-electric class aimed at inspiring students to design and execute precision payload delivery and recovery leveraging flight mode transition and autonomous flight.
3. Micro Class is an all-electric class designed to encourage students to explore multiple design paths through trade-studies to uncover the most effective and efficient approach to solving real industry challenges.
The WUT team, representing the SAE AeroDesign Scientific Club at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering, competed in two categories: Advanced and Micro.
In the Advanced Class, WUT students took 1st place overall and 1st place in the mission performance category. The task involved designing an aircraft capable of transporting a payload to a designated drop zone and autonomously retrieving it — all while keeping the aircraft’s own weight as low as possible. WUT developed the only fully autonomous payload transport system in the competition, featuring independent units that could navigate and dock with the aircraft on their own.
In the Micro Class, which focuses on lightweight, foldable aircraft, the WUT team achieved 3rd place overall and 2nd place in mission performance. This category required carrying the maximum payload (water) within strict limits on wingspan and aircraft weight, as well as achieving the shortest possible takeoff distance.
The team opted for a biplane layout that is unusual in this class, which allowed it to achieve a record-short run-up – just 10 feet – while carrying nearly 2 kg of water. In addition, it was the only team to use thermoforming technology to manufacture the tanks, which ensured high durability with low overall weight.
Students from the SAE AeroDesign Scientific Circle at a competition in the United States. Source: Warsaw University of Technology
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