University of Kentucky Speedfest Design, Build, Fly Competition

Funding is requested to support the 2017-2018 Speedfest team at the University of Kentucky. We are requesting pre-award beginning October 1st to align with the capstone course schedule. Speedfest, hosted by Oklahoma State University, is a competition to design, build, and fly an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of meeting specific set of design requirements defined by the Statement of Work. The competition seeks to provide undergraduate students with hands-on experience applying analytical principles, problem solving abilities and aircraft design skills. The mission objective for 2017-2018 is to design and build an aircraft for high speed, low observable attack and sensor payload deployment. The project will culminate in a flight competition on April 27-29, 2018 where teams from across the United States, will demonstrate aircraft capabilities to high school and university students, as well as representatives from Boeing, NASA, and United States Special Operations Command. This aircraft is the first entry into the Speedfest competition from the University of Kentucky, which will serve to encourage continued participation in and development of the aerospace field in Kentucky.