The Kettering University SAE Aero Design team continues to improve its standing in national competitions as they finished ninth out of 17 teams competing in Micro Class in the April 2015 competition in Los Angeles.

“For the members that are on the team now, this is our best finish,” Alexander Thompson said.

Thompson ‘17 is a Mechanical Engineering major and Public Relations manager for the team. He is completing his co-op at AVL North America in Plymouth and hopes to attend graduate school for Aerospace Engineering after graduating from Kettering.

“I really like airplanes so I was looking for any chance to get involved,” Thompson said. “I’ve always loved it. I don’t know why but I’ve always enjoyed it.”

Kettering’s plane, “Yankee Clipper II,” was not able to fly during the competition due to a technical glitch. However, Kettering’s strong final standing is due to its second place finish for the design report, a 30-page technical paper on the plane, and a fifth place finish in the oral presentation.

Thompson said the process of competing in Aero competitions is a great learning experience as the six-person team - Thompson, Isaac Parker, Brennen Kunka, Jason Franklin, Joshua Tol, and Miles Brillinger - is able to learn about flight physics and airplane design.

“Each plane is completely designed from scratch by each team,” Thompson said. “We don’t get to use kits or anything. We manufacture everything from the ground up. We test it and we go through the whole engineering process.”

During the competition, a member of the SAE is selected to fly the plane on behalf of each of the participating schools. Kettering’s plane was flown by David Tarlau ‘12 (Mechanical Engineering), one of the founding members of the Aero program on campus.

Below is a complete list of Kettering’s finishes at the SAE Aero Competitions:

• 2015 - 9th out of 18 teams in Micro Class
• 2014 - 10th out of 19 Teams in Micro Class
• 2013 - 21st out of 29 Teams in Micro Class

For more information, visit the team’s Facebook page.