Student Design Competition

The Vertical Flight Society's annual Student Design Competition challenges students to design a vertical lift aircraft that meets specified requirements, provides a practical exercise for engineering students at colleges and universities around the world and promotes student interest in vertical flight technology. Each of the winning teams is awarded a cash stipend, while each of the first-place winning teams are invited to the Vertical Flight Society's Annual Forum and Technology Display to present the details of their designs. Members of the teams receive complimentary registration to the Forum, the vertical flight industry’s principal professional technical event, which promotes vertical flight technology advancement.

The Student Design Competition sponsorship rotates between Airbus, The Boeing Company, Bell, Leonardo Helicopters, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Co.; and US Army Research Lab. Through this partnership, VFS is able to reach the best and brightest students in the world and encourage them to pursue education and careers in vertical flight. VFS is grateful for the continual support that industry provides for its annual Student Design Competition, and proud of all students who elect to participate. Information is available on past winners.

Rotating Sponsors

44th Annual Student Design Competition

VTOL Aircraft Supporting South American Offshore Oil and Gas Production

Sponsored by Bell

• The 44th Request for Propsal (Rev 1 dtd 25 Aug. 2026), sponsored by Bell, is now available for download. 2027 44th SDC RFP
• The 2026-2027 RFP is entitled "VTOL Aircraft Supporting South American Offshore Oil and Gas Production". The proposal challenges student teams to design a VTOL aircraft to support oil and gas production of the South America coast.
• NEW Letter of Intent Deadline: Oct. 26, 2026. Teams can submit Request for Inforamtion along with their LOI. Refer to Section 1.3 for new milestone and deadline dates.
• VFS recommends that you read the white paper Student Design Competition on Judging and Participation Invitation Letter.

43rd Annual Student Design Competition

Hybrid Electric Tiltrotor

Sponsored by Leonardo Helicopters

• 43rd (2026) SDC Results: Georgia Institute of Technology took first place in the graduate category for their Ibrido design. Delft University of Technology won the undergraduate category for the HEXV-15.
• A press release announcing all this year's winners is coming soon.
• 43rd (2025-26) SDC RFP "Hybrid Electric Tiltrotor": download the 2026 SDC RFP.

42nd Annual Student Design Competition

Pioneering Hydrogen-Electric VTOL

Sponsored by AIRBUS

• The University of Maryland earned top honors, winning first place in both graduate and undergraduate categories. For a list of all this year's winners download the Press Release.

• Thank you to the 20 university teams that submitted final proposals.

• 42^nd (2024-2025) SDC RFP sponsored by Airbus entitled "Pioneering Hydrogen Electric VTOL": 2025 SDC RFP and Airbus RFI Responses.

Read more about our 40+ years of competitions and past winners!