On March 10, the McMaster Aerospace Team (MAST) competed at the SAE Aero Design East Competition hosted in Lakeland, Florida where they placed 11th out of 25 teams in their very first year of competition.
The international collegiate design competition tasks teams with designing and building large wingspan planes that carry steel plates around a course to provide students with a real-life, aerospace engineering challenge. Teams from around the globe gathered to show off their aircrafts and push the limits of aerodynamic performance.
“It felt surreal to compete at an SAE competition since it was both a first for the team and a first for me. I am so thankful for the entire experience and that we were able to represent McMaster on the world stage,” says Aquinn Hazenberg, materials and biomedical engineering student, and manufacturing sub-team member.
MAST was formed by team captains Adam Steacy and Archie Dubey in March 2022 after participating in a co-op opportunity with a local aerospace start-up company. The remainder of the team, assembled during the summer, is comprised of a group of 16 hardworking and dedicated engineering students that put endless hours into designing, constructing, and testing this aircraft over the course of seven months.
“This design challenge has allowed us to explore a complex problem with no solution in the back of the book,” explains Steacy. “It has been one of my first real engineering experiences working on a large-scale project from the very start and seeing it through to its final stages.”
Being a part of this process and working with such an incredible team of passionate people is an invaluable experience for any engineering student and has shaped my perceptions of what real engineering work is.
Despite the monumental challenge of engineering an aircraft from scratch, the team successfully completed 5 flights, carrying the maximum target payload, and placing in the top half of all participating teams.
“Being on MAST has really reminded me of why I love being an engineer,” says Anisha Vatti, mechanical engineering and society student, and structures sub-team member. “There is a lot of joy in designing something completely from scratch, especially with such an intelligent and driven group of people, and watching it come to fruition right before your eyes.”
What’s next for these aerospace innovators?
“We’ve had an incredible year,” says Archie, “I sincerely hope that every year of MAST feels a little like this one did: full of discovery, exploration, learning, and laughter. I want MAST to become a team where people come to learn about aircraft design, make planes, compete, and have fun doing all of it. We did that once this year, I hope we do it again and again.”
