The USC Advanced Commercial Concepts (UACC) Design Team, a multi-disciplinary team of USC undergraduate students, won third place in the 2009-10 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) International Team Aircraft Design Competition.

Dean meets USC's Advanced Commercial Concepts team. Left to right: Todd Erickson (Propulsion), Kristina Larson (Configuration Management), Darin Gaytan (Aero-Performance), Oussama Safadi (Faculty Advisor), Geoffry Spedding (AME Department Chairman), Sina Golshany (Lead Designer), Ron Blackwelder (Project Advisor), Yannis Yortsos (Dean of School of Engineering), John Roehrick (Weight), Michael Zarem (Systems), Phillip Adkins (Aeroacoustics), Devin Lewis (Payload Integration), and Chris Nsavu (Structures). Not Picutred: Keith Holmlund (High-Speed Aerodynamics).

They were the first USC team ever to place in the more than the 30 year history of this highly completive and prestigious contest, which annually attracts more than fifty entries from the all over the world. While most of the team members were students in the Viterbi School of Engineering Department of Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering, the roster also included members from USC's School of Architecture and the Department of Physics and Astronomy. USC Viterbi AME professors Oussama Safadi and Ron Blackwelder assisted UACC as the team's project and faculty advisor respectively.

Members of the team were invited to publish and present a paper at the 10th Annual AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

Following this success, UACC team members are looking forward to entering future aircraft design competitions in undergraduate and graduate levels. Interested individuals in participating in future undergraduate and graduate competitions may contact the AME student advisors David Salter, dsalter@usc.edu, and Samantha Graves, smgraves@usc.edu.

Two of UACC's Aircraft Design Concepts. Albatross (Right) adorns open-fan engines in an over-the-wing installation, and Egret (left) is configured with aft-mounted open fan engines, both integrating natural laminar flow over their major lifting surfaces and folding wings.