POLITECNICO DI MILANO’S “AEROSWITCH” TEAM WINS THE 2019-20 AIAA GRADUATE STUDENT DESIGN AIRCRAFT DESIGN COMPETITION

Link: https://www.aiaa.org/get-involved/students-educators/Design-Competitions/2019-2020-design-competition-winning-reports

The AIAA Foundation has been sponsoring annual aircraft design competitions for many years, offering students the chance to apply their knowledge and initiative to complex real-world problems. Competing teams must provide a solution to a Request for Proposal (RFP), by submitting a complete design report for revision by technical experts from AIAA Technical Committees.

Politecnico di Milano first participated in the 2014-15 edition, earning the first place with project “Flynk”, a highly innovative air taxi system dedicated to commuter transportation in large metropolitan areas (see here). Now, another team of students enrolled in the Aircraft Design graduate course wins the highest honors in the 2019-20 edition with an original concept in response to the RFP calling for the design of a “General Aviation trainer family”.

The AeroSwitch team formed by Lorenzo ALBERTI, Davide PASQUALI (team leader), Andrea SANTERAMO and Matteo TOMBOLINI, supervised by professors Carlo E. D. Riboldi and Lorenzo Trainelli, devised the “Trybrid” concept: a groundbreaking reconfigurable airplane with distributed electric propulsion, capable to support pilot training for both single-engine and multi-engine licenses thanks to the cunning design of the complex propulsive system. This would allow a flying school to operate a single, environmentally-friendly, safer airplane model, boosting cost reductions and public acceptance. The concept behind “Trybrid” is the object of a pending patent by Politecnico di Milano and partners are currently sought for the development of the project.

AeroSwitch adds another link in the success chain of Politecnico’s Aeronautical Engineering students, further contributing to our rich 2020 booty, which already included two third places in the VFS Design Competition. See our hall of fame here !