Loughborough Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) came overall 3rd place and takes home an outstanding 4 out of 9 awards at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Unmanned Aerial System Challenge 2023.

Launched in 2014 with the key objectives of developing professional engineers and inspiring the next generation, the Challenge is now a highly anticipated event attracting teams from across the UK and around the world. This year’s event saw over 25 teams come together including teams from Saudi Arabia, Portugal, and Bangladesh to compete in the challenge at BMFA Buckminster.

Loughborough UAV won awards in Environment, Safety, Airworthiness and now for 3 consecutive years, Design. They were also runners-up in another 2 awards; Scrutineering and X-Plane Model (a model that tests the capabilities of the UAV in X-Plane software).

In addition to the awards, the team made UAS Challenge history by being the first-ever team to successfully perform a vertical take-off and landing transition (VTOL transition).

Starting each October, Loughborough UAV undertakes a complete design and build cycle of an unmanned aerial system with a maximum take-off mass of 10kg to undertake specific mission objectives, culminating in a final fly-off event.

The system will be required to operate automatically, performing a series of tasks such as area search, navigating waypoints, accurately dropping the Aid Package, and returning to base via a defined route.

Ilyas, who has just finished Part C of Aeronautical Engineering and Chief Media and Communications Officer in the Lboro UAV team comments:

This year has been incredibly successful for us, and we are very proud of our team.

All our members get to apply their theoretical knowledge to practice, they get real hands-on engineering experience as well by using the facilities provided by the University and industry partners.

The skills and experiences gained from the competition are really valued by industry companies and really help our students in finding placement and graduate jobs.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all members of the Lboro UAV team for their hard work, commitment and determination.