During my time at Science World's Future Science Leaders (FSL) program, I was sponsored twice to create projects for their annual eSTEAMed journal, with a small budget and mentor access (& aerospace-specific mentor support in my third year for my VTOL UAVs).

Year 2 (2022-2023)

My first paper explored the aerodynamic design of a fixed-wing, single-motor drone, intended to be printable on a consumer 3D-printer. Physically testing the printed airframe's structures, it passed only some tests (maybe because I thought the wings would be able to survive an ultimate-loading case in absence of actual wing spars. You can guess what happened).

Aspects not accounted for include structural analyses, adequate DFM, wake effects or control-surface authority, etc.

2023 Paper (Year 2) - (click to open) Evaluating the Rapidity of Developing Functional 3D-Printed UAVs

This was the first UAV design I printed and fully assembled. Flight test didn't go so well, though…

Year 3 (2023-2024)

My second paper took a slightly more numerically-grounded approach to the design of another fixed-wing design, and attempted to incorporate CFD analyses to optimize winglet shaping and determine the optimal angle of incidence for the wing and the level-flight trim angle for the elevators. The aircraft was designed to be printed via the same means as before, but the emphasis was on the CFD analysis.

Aspects not accounted for include (but are not limited to) the drag and pitching implications of extended landing gear, mesh sensitivity analysis for any of the CFD simulations, or dynamic stability analysis via transient simulations. Structural considerations were also neglected for the purposes of the aerodynamic analysis.

2024 Paper (Year 3) - (click to open) Taming the Skies: Computational-Fluid-Dynamics (CFD) Optimization of a 3D-Printable Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

This was the 4th UAV I designed, almost concurrently with my 2nd & 3rd VTOL designs (which I was selected to present before an audience at my high-school's capstone event, but did not have time to thoroughly document for publication by the time of this paper).

Learning Outcomes

These papers forced me to practice scientific communication and learn a plethora of new concepts in a matter of months. The skills they required I cultivate have stuck, and I now take a more scientific approach to my design, considering effects and hypotheses, and being increasingly methodic in my addressal of my own blind spots and in the identification of potentially useful trade-studies to perform. I have also learned the value of systematic documentation.

Since the publication of the last paper, I have continued to learn (via personal study and TAMU SAE Aero Design investigations/involvement) about the core parameters that are vital to consider when designing an aircraft for a given set of mission requirements and range of operating conditions. I will continue to learn with deep intrigue of aerodynamics and systems engineering, and hope to perform more rigorous and experimental investigations during my time at TAMU.