Aero Senior Design
2024-2025
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2023-2024 |
2022-2023 |
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2021-2022 |
2020-2021 |
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2019-2020 |
2018-2019 |
The Aero Senior Design course is a two-semester capstone project at Mechanical
Engineering department to design, manufacture, assemble, and test a
radio-controlled airplane. In this project, senior undergraduate students apply
engineering fundamentals, analysis skills, and software to design, manufacture,
and test an innovative remote controlled primary aircraft to deliver and
release payloads into a targeted area. The current mission challenge is in the
context of airborne delivery of packages. Airborne delivery is an essential
approach to develop sustainable logistics solutions and to address
transportation challenges such as traffic congestion and environmental impact.
CSUN Aero Senior Design students are working on developing airborne delivery
systems for real-world delivery scenarios. The team design, manufacture, and test
a small-scale radio-controlled airplane with autonomous capabilities for
different transportation phases including takeoff, payload delivery,
navigation, retrieval, and landing. The design autonomy is
aligned with the current needs in industry and public to reduce human
intervention, while enhancing reliability and operational efficiency. In the
past couple of years, the mission of the project was in the context of fighting
wildfires. California wildfires are becoming an increasingly pressing issue and
the mobilization of resources can be difficult while fighting wildfires. As
such, it is necessary to develop more options for reducing mobilization time.
CSUN Aero Senior Design students worked on solutions to this issue by designing
more efficient aircraft and ground vehicle system that autonomously fights
wildfires. In addition to the primary aircraft, the students developed a
Powered Autonomous Delivery Aircraft (PADA) and an autonomous Ground Transport
Vehicle (GTV), representing a scaled down firefighting operation.
The Aero Senior Design project is a hands-on experience emphasizing the
importance of educational values and the technology advances. In this
multidisciplinary project, sub-teams of Aerodynamics, Structure, Avionics, and
System & Integration work together to achieve the project goals. In the
first phase of the project, the emphasis is on the application of engineering
fundamentals to a comprehensive design project utilizing computer-aided design
and analysis tools. In the second phase of the project, the students
manufacture, assemble, and test the designed primary aircraft and supplemental
parts. The design is then improved through an iterative process leading to high
performance products. In the final phase, the team participate in various competitions,
including International SAE Aero Design Competition, CSUNPosium,
and Senior Design Project Showcase (SDPS) held by the College of Engineering
and Computer Science.
The Aero Senior Design project provides an opportunity for students from
different departments (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer
Engineering, and Computer Science) to apply the fundamentals and knowledge they
have acquired during their undergraduate studies. In the Aerodynamics sub-team,
the students employ computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools, semi-empirical
methods, and experimental tests to design the configuration of the primary
aircraft, while investigating the flow field characteristics, stability, and
control. In Structure sub-team, the structural analysis, material selection,
manufacturing, assembly, integration, and testing are performed. The Avionics
sub-team works on flight control, data acquisition system, tracking, autonomous
flights, computer vision, machine learning, target detection, and software development.
System & Integration sub-team is responsible for well-organized
communications between the sub-teams, risk analysis, system integration,
performance improvement, and addressing the competition regulations. Throughout
the project, the students practice team-working, systematic design, and
time/cost/resource management. During two semesters of the project, the
students present preliminary and critical design reviews, prepare reports, and
participate in the competitions. Similar to professional engineers in industry,
the students design and develop a project from conceptual design to
manufacturing. That provides an opportunity for students to better understand
the fundamentals, apply the knowledge, overcome management and technical
challenges, and develop critical communication skills. Over the years, the Aero
Senior Design project has performed a continuous improvement. The project helps
the Mechanical Engineering department to meet the ABET accreditation criteria
by design and development of a complex engineering system.
I am glad that Aero Senior Design team could complete and showcase
high-quality works in the past academic years and could achieve several
prestigious awards in International SAE Aero Competition, CSUNPosium,
and CSUN Senior Design Project Showcase (SDPS). We are currently seeking
students from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and
Computer Science who will meet the prerequisites for the senior design course
for the Fall 2025, and have a strong interest in joining
next year's team. Feel free to reach out to me at shadi.mahjoob@csun.edu for
any questions.
Shadi Mahjoob, PhD
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
California State University, Northridge
Email: shadi.mahjoob@csun.edu
Last update: February 2025
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Fall 2024 - Spring 2025
The 2024-25 Aero Senior design team
was a diverse team with 25 students from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and
Computer Engineering, and Computer Science departments. The team consists of subteams of Aerodynamics, Structure, Avionics, and System
& Integration. Our 2024-25 CSUN Aeronautics team was
awarded as the Top Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Team for Oral
Presentation at Senior Design Project Showcase (SDPS) Competition, organized by
the CSUN College of Engineering and Computer Science in May 2025. The team also
participated in 2025 International SAE Aero West Competition in the Advanced
Class and was placed 4th for Flight Demonstration
Readiness Review (FDRR) presentation. During the competition, the team members
had the chance to connect with industry professionals, gaining insights for
improvements, career advice, and recognition for their work. The team also
presented the engineering details of the project in 2025 CSUNPosium.
We have had a diverse team who collaborated well for the success of the team.
It was inspiring to see the dedication and involvement from every team member.
The team was awarded
as the Top Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Team for Oral Presentation at
Senior Design Project Showcase (SDPS) Competition. Congratulations to the team.
It is an honor that the Aero SD team
captain (Gevork Gazdzhyan) was awarded as the Top Undergraduate Student of Mechanical
Engineering and 2024-2025 College of Engineering and Computer Science
Graduating Scholar.
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Fall 2023 - Spring 2024
The 2023-24 Aero Senior
design team was a diverse team with 29 students from Mechanical Engineering,
Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science departments. The team
designed and manufactured an innovative aircraft with flying wing design
in addition to fully autonomous PADA and GTV and participated in 2024 International SAE Aero Design Competition. The team participated in the Advanced
Class which is the most challenging category in the competition and received:
· 3rd Place Award
for Technical Presentation
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In addition, the team had a
well participation in 2024 CSUNPosium and presented the engineering details
of the project, receiving a First Place Award in the competition.
The team also participated in Senior Design
Project Showcase held by CSUN College of Engineering in May 2024 and was
awarded as the Top Mechanical Engineering Team for Oral Presentation
().
There
were several dedicated students in the team and the team Avionics Lead (Randal Engelhardt) was the selected Top Undergraduate Student of
Mechanical Engineering in May 2024.
Some
team photos:
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Fall 2022 - Spring 2023
2022-23 Aero Senior Design
team designed and manufactured an innovative aircraft with flying wing design
in addition to fully autonomous PADA and GTV. The team participated in 2023
International SAE Aero West Competition:
·
2nd Place Standing for Technical
Presentation
The team participated
in the Advanced Class which is the most challenging category in the
competition. The team also received 2 awards in 2023 CSUNPosium:
·
1st Place, "Aerodynamic analysis of a flying wing aircraft", Raphael
Perez, Sahil Keniya, and
Ivan Ayon
·
1st Place, "Quantification of carbon fiber
interference with radio waves between receiver and transmitter for RC planes in terms of concealment and
percentage of signal loss", Brenda Rios and Daniel Lu
Primary Aircraft, PADA, and GTV
PADA
GTV
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Fall 2021 - Spring 2022
2021-22 Aero Senior
Design team won 2 awards in 2022 International SAE Aero West Competition:
·
2nd Place Award for Mission Performance
·
3rd Place Award for Technical Presentation
The team participated
in the Advanced Class which is the most challenging category in the
competition.
In addition, the Aero Senior Design team won two awards in Senior
Design Project Showcase, held by the college of Engineering and Computer Science
on Thursday May 5th (/sites/default/files/SDPS2022Brochure5May22FINAL2-lk.pdf):
College Top Senior Design Project Display (Grand Prize, Award: $1000)
Top Overall Oral Presentation of Mechanical Engineering
Department (Award: $500)
The team also received 3 First Place awards in 2022 CSUNPosium.
·
1st
Place, "Aerodynamic Characteristics of Horizontal and Vertical
Tails", Hamza Abdullah and Erick Navarro-Hernandez.
·
1st
Place, "Optimization of Electronic Control Systems", Christopher
Gonzalez.
·
1st
Place, "Aerodynamics Analysis of a Powered Autonomous Delivery
Aircraft", Sara Khan and Noe Diaz.
CSUN Today: CSUN Team Soars at SAE
International Aero Design West Competition
CSUN Today: Engineering
and Computer Science Seniors Showcase Their Innovations
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Fall 2020 - Spring 2021
Aero Senior Design
2020-21 team won the First Place in Mechanical Eng. in Senior Design
Project Showcase (SDPS).
The team won 4th Place in
presentation in 2021 International SAE Aero competition (Advanced class).
The students also
received 3
Awards (1st and 2nd places) in 2021 CSUNPosium:
·
1st
Place- Poster Presentation, Aero Senior Design: “Performance
Study of Low Reynolds Number Eppler 423
Airfoil”, Presented by Isaac Chavez
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2nd Place- Ten Minute
Oral Presentation, Aero Senior Design: “Performance Study of a
Lifting Fuselage”, Presented by Lorenzo Quijas
and Tahir Quettawala
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2nd Place- Three Minute
Oral Presentation, Aero Senior Design: "FEA Analysis on the Colonist
Delivery Aircraft Hook Mount”, Presented by Calvin Lau
The 2021 SDPS team
presentation can be found in the following links:
/sites/default/files/SDPS_Brochure_7May21_with_video_links.pdf
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Fall 2019 - Spring 2020
SAE Aero Competition 2020
CSUN Aero senior design team
participated in SAE International Aero Design East Competition in Lakeland,
Florida, March 6-8, 2020. The competition consists of 3 classes and the team
participated in Advance class which is the most challenging class. The SAE Aero
Design competition is to design, manufacture, and test a radio controlled
aircraft that can take off, land, and optimally meet the mission requirements.
The designed primary aircraft in this project is equipped to deliver 14 Habitat
Modules and 7 water bottles along with 3 CDAs each carrying 30 colonists. The
guiding philosophy of the design process centers on mission-specific
requirements. Integration of supply payload and CDAs was a cornerstone of this
philosophy. Closed-form solutions were used to optimize design variables
through iteration.
Details
of competition and regulations can be found in .
CSUN Senior Design Project
Showcase (SDPS 2020)
The primary goal for CSUN Aeronautics is to safely
deliver the maximum amount of colonist onto the surface of Mars while
maximizing the total days of habitability, based on the Final Flight Score.
This aircraft sacrifices a conventional structure for a payload oriented design
driven by the SAE Aero Competition- Advanced Class mission objectives.
Aerodynamics, structures, avionics, systems and integration, and manufacturing
teams worked together to design an aircraft capable of meeting and exceeding
mission expectations. Design constraints laid out by SAE Aero Design East
Advanced Class include a maximum wingspan of 11 feet, 750 watt power limiter
and a maximum take-off weight of 55 pounds. Final flight score is achieved by
systematically releasing first the payload, consisting of water bottles and
nerf howlers, followed by the autonomous gliders at specific altitudes onto a
50 foot radius target zone. This hands on experience emphasizes the importance
of blending together teamwork, knowledge, and dedication.
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Fall 2018 - Spring 2019
Mission
Statement
“The Red Genesis
mission is to design and optimize an electric aircraft to transport colonists
in autonomous gliders while also dropping food, shelter, and other supplies
within a target area in order to make a terrain habitable.”
Design Philosophy
The
design philosophy seeks to minimize the operating empty weight to ensure the
aircraft can house the static payload, water supply, habitats, and the mounted
Colonist Delivery Craft. The project requires the abilities and concepts
learned from the foundational mechanical engineering program while necessitates
experience working with composites and machining. Autonomous Colonist Delivery
Craft also needs the understanding of GPS guidance systems, programming, and
Mechatronics. The team members must be committed to a strict budget and task
deadlines.
SAE Aero Competition 2019
CSUN
Aero senior design team participated in SAE International Aero Design West
Competition in Van Nuys, CA, April 5-7, 2019. The competition consists of 3
classes and the team participated in Advance class which is the most
challenging class. CSUN Aero team got 4th place in Technical Design
Report and 4th place in Technical Presentation.
Details
of competition and regulations can be found in .
2019
SAE Aero Design rules can be found at .
CSUN Senior Design Project
Showcase (SDPS 2019)
Project
Description: The objective of the 2018-2019 CSUN Aero Senior Design Project is
to apply engineering fundamentals, analysis skills, and software to an
extensive design project with an emphasis in aerospace engineering. Some of the
main topics that are addressed in the project are aerodynamics and aircraft
design, aircraft structure, stability, propulsion, and flight systems. In this
multi-disciplinary project, a new remote controlled aircraft is designed and
manufactured to deliver some humanitarian payloads, including water bottles,
nerf howlers, and autonomous gliders, into a targeted area. The aircraft is
designed to fit the design constraints set by the SAE Aero West Advanced Class
Competition, including Maximum 12 ft wingspan, 750
watt power limit for propulsion, and maximum take-off weight of 55 lbs. The
payloads are used to achieve a score by systematically releasing them from
specific altitudes onto targets. It is a hands-on experience emphasizing the
importance of educational values and technology advances. For more info visit:
/sites/default/files/sdps2019.pdf
