NASA Names College Winners In Supersonic Design Contest

July 10, 2009

Beth Dickey
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2087


Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-9886/757-344-8511


RELEASE: 09-159

NASA NAMES COLLEGE WINNERS IN SUPERSONIC DESIGN CONTEST

WASHINGTON -- Eight college students have summer jobs at NASA this
year, thanks to their participation in a contest to design a
supersonic airliner.

College students from the U.S., Japan and India researched technology
and created concepts for a supersonic passenger jet as part of a
competition sponsored by the Fundamental Aeronautics Program in
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

The participants were challenged to design a small supersonic
airliner
and submit a research paper limited to 25 pages. Designs had to be
efficient, environmentally friendly, low sonic boom commercial
aircraft that could be ready for initial service by 2020.

A team of undergraduates from the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville, Va., and a team of graduate students from the
Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta tied for first place in
the U.S. division. A University of Tokyo undergraduate team won top
honors in the non-U.S. category.

Six participants receiving internships were selected from the
award-winning teams. All eight recipients are engineering or
management students and were selected based on their resumes, grade
point averages and application letters. The students are serving
their internships at three NASA centers: Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Va.; Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.; and the
Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

"We use these competitions to generate excitement for aeronautics and
the engineering behind aviation," said Peter Coen, principal
investigator of the Supersonics Project at Langley. "I was pleased by
the number and diversity of the entries we received. And I was
impressed by the quality and innovative thinking demonstrated in the
designs."

This year's competition also fostered an unusual collaboration across
the country and two continents. Four students, one from Florida,
another from California and two from Australia, worked together over
the Internet to design an airliner. Three of the four had met last
year as a result of the contest. The team tied for second place with
an undergraduate team from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

An undergraduate team from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of
Technology in Gujarat, India won second place in the international
division.

A group of NASA engineers reviewed the entries. The judges based
their
scores on how well students addressed all aspects of the problem they
chose to discuss. The judges used the following criteria: innovation
and creativity; discussion of feasibility; a brief review of
pertinent literature; and a baseline comparison with the relevant
current technology, system or design.

Winning participants received prizes, including up to $5,000, and
will
be invited to a student forum sponsored by NASA. Students were also
eligible for 24 summer internships. Only U.S. citizens may be awarded
cash prizes or NASA-funded internships. Non-U.S. teams will receive
an engraved trophy. All participants also will receive a NASA
certificate.

For a list of winners of the contest and information about the
interns, visit:

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/comp...rs_college.htm

For more information about other NASA projects, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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