The Design/Build/Fly (DBF) team at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) seeks to educate its members on the fundamentals of aircraft design in a collaborative project environment. Over the course of the academic year, the team engineers, fabricates, and demonstrates the flight capabilities of an electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft that can best meet a set of mission requirements established by competition rules.

Since 1998, UCSD has participated in the Design/Build/Fly Competition, hosted by Textron, Raytheon, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the spring of each year. The contest provides a real-world aircraft design experience for engineering students by giving them the opportunity to validate their analytic studies and compete against other student teams in Tucson, Arizona or Wichita, Kansas.

We are a part of the pre-professional student organization American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) UCSD branch. AIAA’s goals are to provide students with an inclusive, supportive group that emphasizes mentorship, learning, and interconnectivity; connect them to a national network of industry and academic professionals; and prepare them for a future in the aerospace industry.