From 26 to 27 March, the AIAA Region V Student Conference was held at Iowa State University. The night before the event, professional members from the AIAA Iowa Section spoke about the importance of continuing their association with AIAA and professional societies in general after graduation. Speaker Han Guo, assistant professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering at ISU, reflected on his own participation in an AIAA Regional Student Conference as a graduate student.
The conference included everything from engaging technical presentations to conversations with passionate high school and college students, and it was clear the future of aerospace is in incredibly capable hands. What stood out most was the community of students, faculty, and professionals all coming together to support one another, share ideas, and celebrate innovation.
A huge thank you to the Iowa State University Department of Aerospace Engineering team for hosting such a well-organized and welcoming event.
Region V Winners
High School Category
- First Place: “Physics-Informed Learning of Jet Stream Variability and Aircraft-Relevant Momentum Transport Using Reanalysis Data,” Naga Sai and Dhiraj Kasam, Moline Sr High School (Moline, IL)
- Second Place: “A Multi-Fidelity Framework for Trustworthy AI-Driven Transonic Airfoil Optimization with Automated Hallucination Detection,” Krithik Senthilkumar, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (Aurora, IL)
Undergraduate Category
- First Place: “Reducing Sputtering on Spacecraft to Mitigate Secondary Radiation Exposure,” Anton Golovko, University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND)
- Second Place: “Aerodynamic Shape Optimization for the DPW4 Transport Aircraft Using DAFoam,” Nicholas Barber, Iowa State University (Ames, IA)
- Third Place: “Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Adaptive Cycle Engine Aircraft using Aviary,” Marcos De Leon, Iowa State University (Ames, IA)
Graduate Category
- First Place: “Online Inertia Tensor Identification for Non-Cooperative Spacecraft via Augmented UKF,” Batu Candan, Iowa State University (Ames, IA)
- Second Place: “A Data-Driven Assessment of Impact Erosion Resistance Using ML and Multi Criteria Decision Making,” Debanan Bhadra, Iowa State University (Ames, IA)
- Third Place: “Modeling Relativistic Effects on Clocks in Cislunar Space Along Reference Trajectories of Varying Dynamical Fidelity,” Emily Matteson, University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, CO)
Team Category
- First Place: “Use of Formal Verification Techniques for the Dynamic Degradation of the GRIFEX CubeSat.” Michael Jacks, Gustavo Abagge Luzzi, Isabella Brewer, and Erin Riley, Iowa State University (Ames, IA)
- Second Place: “Multi-Rover GNC Architecture for Autonomous Searching Using Frontier Planning and Gain-Scheduled Control,” Yu Kang Kong and Vishnu Duriseti, University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, CO)
- Third Place: “Evaluation of Subsurface Probe for Investigating Cryogenic Environments for the Enceladus Underwater Robotic Observation and Property Analysis Mission,” Benjamin Forbes, Adrian Acevedo, Melanie Reym, Brandon Velarde, and Nathan Brubaker, Saint Louis University (St. Louis, MO)
