Vellore :

Seventeen students from VIT University calling themselves ‘Team Vimaanas’ has been awarded the first position in the Asia-Pacific Region, in the Micro Class of airplanes category at SAE Aero Design international competition held at Lakeland, Florida, USA, competing with 25 other teams from prestigious universities across the world.

Teams from IIT Kanpur, NIT Jamshedpur, Manipal Institute of Technology, McGill University, University of Western Ontario, Polytechnic Institute of NYU and other European and American universities competed in the international competition. VIT chancellor G. Viswanathan while complimenting the VIT team for their achievement, said VIT University encourages students to take part in technical events as they provide a platform for them to broaden their horizons while gaining rich and practical experience.

SAE Aero Design competition is conducted by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)International.

“The contest was to design a micro-class category light aircraft that could hold a cylinder of a six-inch diameter and we began to work on this since September last year,” said Rushat Gupta Chadha, the VIT team captain who is in his fourth year Mechanical Engineering.

Weighing just 330gms the micro plane is capable of lifting a weight almost three times its weight with both wingspans measuring 36 inches and also measuring 36 inches from the tip of its nose to its tail. Although the team from VIT University was adjudged the sixth best team overall, they stood first in the Asia-Pacific Region. With several categories on which the micro planes were judged, the team was awarded the second prize for Highest Payload Lifted, fourth prize for the Highest Payload Fraction, and the sixth prize for Design.

“We got three returns on our investment of hard work. First, we learnt to apply technical knowledge and test them practically. Second, this competition acted as a booster to our morale and confidence. Finally, it is an achievement that probably no other Indian student team has achieved so far,” Chadha said. The team now plans to compete in the Advanced Class category in the same competition.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / April 02nd, 2015