NASA Names College Winners in Supersonic Design Contest

WASHINGTON, July 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eight college students have
summer jobs at NASA this year, thanks to their participation in a contest to
design a supersonic airliner.

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College students from the U.S., Japan and India researched technology and
created concepts for a supersonic passenger jet as part of a competition
sponsored by the Fundamental Aeronautics Program in NASA's Aeronautics
Research Mission Directorate.

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,
Va., and a team of graduate students from the Georgia Institute of Technology
in Atlanta tied for first place in the U.S. division. A University of Tokyo
undergraduate team won top honors in the non-U.S. category.

Six participants receiving internships were selected from the award-winning
teams. All eight recipients are engineering or management students and were
selected based on their resumes, grade point averages and application letters.
The students are serving their internships at three NASA centers: Langley
Research Center in Hampton, Va.; Ames Research Center at Moffett Field,
Calif.; and the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

"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."

This year's competition also fostered an unusual collaboration across the
country and two continents. Four students, one from Florida, another from
California and two from Australia, worked together over the Internet to design
an airliner. Three of the four had met last year as a result of the contest.
The team tied for second place with an undergraduate team from Purdue
University in West Lafayette, Ind.

An undergraduate team from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology in
Gujarat, India won second place in the international division.

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.

Winning participants received prizes, including up to $5,000, and will be
invited to a student forum sponsored by NASA. Students were also eligible for
24 summer internships. Only U.S. citizens may be awarded cash prizes or
NASA-funded internships. Non-U.S. teams will receive an engraved trophy. All
participants also will receive a NASA certificate.

For a list of winners of the contest and information about the interns, visit:

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/competition_winners_college.htm

For more information about other NASA projects, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA

Beth Dickey, +1-202-358-2087, beth.dickey-1@nasa.gov, or Kathy Barnstorff,
+1-757-864-9886, or +1-757-344-8511, kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov, both of NASA