2010
Challenge
Environmentally Responsible
(Green) Aviation College Student Challenge
NASA invites students to propose ideas and designs
for future aircraft that use less fuel, produce less
harmful emissions, and make less noise.
Background
In order to engage and inspire the next generation
of engineers and scientists, NASA offers technical
challenges for both high school and college level students
in the area of environmentally responsible aviation.
These challenges are open to both US citizens and foreign
students.
Today's current generation of aircraft benefit from
past NASA investments in aeronautical research that
have improved fuel efficiencies, lowered noise levels
and lessened harmful emissions. Although substantial
progress has been made, much more needs to be done.
The nation’s air transportation system will continue
to expand by an average of two to three percent per
year over the next couple of decades, potentially increasing
aviation's contribution to climate change. Therefore,
the next generation of environmentally responsible
airliners should have lower noise, lower emissions,
and less fuel burn than today’s aircraft.
The NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA)
project explores and documents the feasibility, benefits,
and technical risks associated with vehicle concepts
and enabling technologies that will help mitigate the
impact of aviation on the environment. Through system-level
analysis, promising vehicle and propulsion concepts
and technologies will be developed based on their potential
benefit toward simultaneously achieving fuel burn,
noise and emissions metrics as shown in the green outlined
area of the table below (N+2, 2020 timeframe). Students
are invited to submit their ideas and designs for vehicle
or propulsion concepts and technologies that will assist
in meeting the N+2 goals. Those include:
- Non-conventional aircraft architectures that enable
simultaneous achievement of noise, Landing Take Off
(LTO) NOx and fuel burn metrics in the N+2 timeframe
- Drag reduction through laminar flow
- Advanced propulsion architectures (open rotor,
geared and direct drive turbofans)
- Advanced composite structural concepts for weight
reduction
- Low NOx, fuel-flexible combustors
- Propulsion and airframe integration for noise reduction
and fuel burn improvements
A challenge suitable for each of three levels of students
is presented below.
Undergraduate Students –Teams or Individuals
Two options to enter: December 15, 2010 or
May 1, 2011
Write a technical paper to describe your design of
a future large commercial airliner (200 passenger minimum)
that simultaneously addresses all of the N+2 goals
for noise, emissions and fuel burn.
Along with your paper, submit a one to three minute
video describing your team’s approach to the problem
while documenting the team’s progress over the course
of the project. Videos will count as ten percent of
the overall project score.
Graduate Level Students —Teams or
Individuals
Two options to enter: December 15, 2010 or
May 1, 2011
Submit a technical paper describing your design for
a large commercial air transport vehicle (200 passenger
minimum) that can enter service around 2025 to 2030
with all of the defined technology benefits given above.
The vehicle should operate effectively in the next
generation air transportation system (in-route and
terminal area), achieving even more benefits through
effective operations.
Along with your paper, submit a one to three minute
video describing your team’s approach to the problem
while documenting the team’s progress over the course
of the project. Videos will count as ten percent of
the overall project score.
Submission & Evaluation for College level
entries
Submission and format requirements will be posted
soon. Papers will be reviewed by NASA personnel against
a standard set of criteria including: creativity and
innovation, literature review, baseline comparison
with current technology, cost and feasibility analysis,
and point by point design discussion. Videos will also
be reviewed by NASA personnel and will be evaluated
on the basis of several criteria including creativity,
succinctness, and overall impact.
A detailed set of evaluation criteria and point values
will be posted to the contest web site soon.
Eligibility & Awards for individuals or
teams at the college level
All competitors should be full time students at an
accredited institution of post secondary education
(colleges and universities). Foreign students may enter
but will not be eligible for financial awards. Non
US citizens may compete for trophies and certificates.
Through a NASA cooperative agreement with a Virginia-based
university, US citizens may win financial awards including
paid student internships and travel stipends, depending
on available funds. The winning team or teams may be
invited to attend a NASA sponsored event to present
their paper and video.
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