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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: Terry Beck, 785-532-2604, tbeck@k-state.edu
Photo available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-6415.
Note to editor: Janessa Wedel is a graduate of Goessel High School.
Prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-6415, bbohn@k-state.edu

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

K-STATE SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING TEAM TAKES SECOND PLACE AT 2008 AERO DESIGN WEST COMPETITION

MANHATTAN -- A radio-controlled biplane designed and built by Kansas State University students has landed in second place overall -- and first among U.S. teams -- in the regular class category at the 2008 Aero Design West, an international competition.

The K-State entry, "The Purple Diablo," took second behind an entry from Ecole Polytechnique De Montreal. K-State also took second in the regular class category for the most payload lifted at 27.31 pounds.

The competition, sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers April 4-6 in Fort Worth, Texas, attracted 35 teams. The planes had to take off and land while carrying a maximum cargo.

Ten K-State team members attended the competition.

"I am very proud of these kids for the amount of effort they put into all aspects of this extracurricular event, for their determination and dedication to task, and for the amount of engineering professionalism they exhibited at the competition," said Terry Beck, K-State professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering and faculty adviser to the team.

"The team spent all last semester and this semester working on the plane, and a lot of time was put in on weekends and breaks," said Greg Payne, junior in mechanical engineering, Lenexa, and team leader.

"We had a more complex aircraft this year than previous years, in the fact that we've never tried a biplane before," Payne said. "We also had some technologies on the plane that required additional research and time. We were still working when we got to our hotel room at the competition, and we have a few things to do before the next competition as well."

The team's next competition will be at Aero Design East, April 18-20, in Marietta, Ga.

"The team's success came solely from the dedication of the members," Payne said. "At the competition, the team's speed and precision on assembling the aircraft and reconfiguring and repairing the aircraft was impressive. Things got pretty intense in the last flight rounds, but the team pulled together and focused and we got things done quickly and efficiently. Our pilot was a big factor as well, and flew the plane amazingly well."

Along with Payne, team members, all mechanical engineering majors unless specified otherwise, include:

Brian Anderson, graduate student, Jamestown; Mike Mangus, senior, Kanorado; John Elson, senior, Leawood, team secretary-treasurer; Curtis Spicer, December 2007 bachelor's graduate in mechanical engineering, Marysville, team pilot; Josh Goertz, freshman, and Janessa Wedel, sophomore, both of Newton; Matt Roberts, junior, Pomona; Brad Matlack, December 2007 bachelor's graduate in mechanical engineering, Salina; Zachary Kail, sophomore, and Andrew Mishler, sophomore, both of Tribune; and Eric Bunnel, senior, Welda.