The 2026 AIAA Region II Student Conference, held 26–27 March at the University of South Carolina, brought together more than 330 attendees and featured 105 student presentations. The event provided a valuable forum for students to showcase their work in a professional setting, receive real-time feedback from experienced practitioners serving as judges, and build connections with peers and professionals across academia, industry, and government. AIAA Region II Director Emeritus and AIAA Fellow Kurt Polzin noted that “the conference creates an environment where students can refine their ideas, strengthen their communication skills, and gain confidence presenting complex work to a broader audience.”
Thursday, 26 March
Attendees heard from a distinguished lineup of speakers, including morning keynote speaker, Joseph Peña, director and chief engineer of 787 Interiors Design at The Boeing Company. Peña engaged with participants through presentations and roundtable discussions and remarked on the high level of professionalism and technical proficiency demonstrated by the students throughout the event. The lunch keynote speaker, Lee Jasper, systems engineer at Space Dynamics Lab, provided additional insights from his work in the field.
In the evening, attendees gathered for the “Night at the Museum” social at the South Carolina State Museum, offering a relaxed setting to connect with peers. The event featured a planetarium show and an exhibit about Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke.
Friday, 27 March
The second day included opportunities to visit Owens Field, one of the region’s historic aviation landmarks that was established in the 1930s and used as a World War II training site, or to participate in a guided tour of the South Carolina State House. A Student Organization Leadership Meeting, hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville, brought together student branch leaders to exchange best practices, discuss operational challenges, and strengthen collaboration across branches.
The conference concluded with an awards banquet held at Williams-Brice Stadium, featuring The Honorable Charles F. Bolden Jr., USMC (Ret.), and founder & CEO Emeritus, Charles F. Bolden Group. Bolden shared insights from his distinguished career as a space shuttle astronaut and NASA Administrator.
Special thanks to the student organizers and the Region II volunteers whose efforts made the conference a success.
Region II Winners
High School Category
- First Place: “Integrated Aero-Structural Optimization of Bio-Inspired and Generative AI Airfoils with Internal Lattice Architectures,” Saahil Doshi, Cashton Isaac, and Ramana Pidaparti, Oconee County High School (Watkinsville, GA)
- Second Place: “Computational Analysis of Propeller-Wing Interaction: Quantifying Lift on a NACA 4412 Airfoil,” Tejus Peri and Ansh Mishra, Alliance Academy for Innovation (Cumming, GA)
- Third Place: “Real-Time Digital Twin Implementation for Predictive Maintenance of UAVs Using Embedded Sensor Fusion and Machine Learning,” Naren Pai, William G. Enloe High School (Raleigh, NC)
Undergraduate Category
- First Place: “Aero-Acoustic Optimization and Experimental Validation of a NACA 2415 Toroidal UAV Propeller,” Abhinav Das, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, NC)
- Second Place: “Design, Manufacturing, and Testing of a Data Acquisition System for Use in the Development of Control Systems for Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Systems,” Tucker Jaudon and Austin Hoff, Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS)
- Third Place: “Modeling and Stability Analysis of Inertial Roll Coupling in Supersonic Sounding Rockets,” Saptak Das, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA)
Graduate Category
- First Place: “Exact Beltramian Solution of the Bidirectional Vortex Motion in a Capped Ellipsoidal Cyclonic Rocket Engine,” Patrick Eid and Joseph Majdalani, Auburn University (Auburn, AL)
- Second Place: “Novel Modification of Shock-Tube Facility for Strain-Testing of Carbon Fiber Airframes Under Impulsive Shock Loading,” Jonathan Zak, Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)
- Third Place: “An Image–Based Stochastic Model for Predicting Microstructure Effects on Shock-Induced Ignition and Burn in Pressed HMX,” Philip Melton and Keith Gonthier, Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA)
Team Category
- First Place: “Reaction Wheel Roll Stabilization and Control for an L1 High-Power Rocket,” Sebastien Martinez, Ethan Koh, Renato Dell’Osso, Rachit Gupta, Dahananjay Manikandan, Dante Midei, and Lucas Alonso-Munoyerro, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA)
- Second Place: “Integrated Design and Analysis of a Low-Cost, Motor-Driven Airbrake System for a Sounding Rocket,” Juan Alizo Ewald, Gavin Wilson, Nicholas Dagnino, Parsa Novin, Austin Applestone, Andrew Darby, and Brooklyn Schnupp, University of Georgia (Athens, GA)
- Third Place: “Design of a 1000 N N2O/Paraffin-ABS Hybrid Rocket Engine for a Reusable VTVL Lander,” Sukhmani Sethi, Matthew Xu, Veer Gudhka, Chengle Qian, Felix Gusic, Valeriy Donchev, Amaan Patel, Grace Dilgard, and Szu Heng Chen, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA)
Outstanding Student Branch Category
- First Place: “How to Plan Your Conference: the University of South Carolina’s Guide to Large Event Planning,” University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC)
- Second Place: “From Rocky Top to the Classroom: K-5 STEM Outreach by the Volunteers,” University of Tennessee Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
- Third Place: “Florida Tech AIAA: Expanding Student Opportunity on the Space Coast and Beyond,” Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, FL)
Open Topic Category
- First Place: “Applications of Quantum Optimization Algorithms in Low-Thrust Spaceflight Navigation,” Aneesh Sattiraju and Skyler Kim, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA)
- Second Place: “Comparative Analysis of Energy Absorption in TPMS vs. Honeycomb Lattices for Lunar Lander Strut Attenuation,” Gabriel Brazzeal and Kenza Rih, University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
- Third Place: “Exploring Space Medicine: Human Health Hazards in Space Exploration,” Alyssa Bice, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
