Indian students stand 2nd in NASA design contest

Washington, Jul 11: Sahaj Panchal and Dhrumir Patel from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Gujarat, India, have stood second in the category of 'non-US team' in a contest to design a supersonic airliner, hosted by NASA.

The contest saw college students from the US, Japan and India, who researched technology and created concepts for a supersonic passenger jet.

The Fundamental Aeronautics Program in NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate sponsored the competition.

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, Virginia, and a team of graduate students from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta tied for first place in the US division.

A University of Tokyo undergraduate team won top honors in the non-US category, with Panchal and Patel from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, standing second for their design called 'RASTOFUST'.

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.

"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," he added.

ANI