We provide the Experience; You supply the Knowledge.

Backed by industry and academia, the mission of SAE Aero Design is to provide students with real-world engineering experience through aircraft design challenges. Competition rules were designed to compress a typical aircraft development program into one calendar year, following the early development phase of system engineering and requirements derivation. The Aero Design competition will expose participants to the nuances of conceptual design, manufacturing, system integration/testing, and verification through demonstration.

SAE Aero Design features three classes of competition - Regular, Advanced and Micro.

Written Design Report Judges

Judges will virtually review and score assigned written design reports prior to the onsite competitions. If you would like to be a written report judge for either SAE Aero Design East or West, please complete the survey link below AND sign up as a volunteer for the desired corresponding competition. The survey will help us better assign design reports for judging.

Take the Report Judge Survey

Aero Design East - Florida

East Volunteers - Sign Up Now!

Virtual Volunteering:

  1. Written Report Judge: Judges will review and score assigned teams' 30 page written design reports. Each judge will receive 3-4 design reports to assess based on a given rubric. Reports to be distributed around February 5th with judging to be completed at your own pace prior to March 3rd.

  2. Technical Presentation Judge: Presentation judges will assess oral presentations of student teams (via Microsoft Teams) and enter scoring into an online scoring portal. The score shall be comprised of scores from each judge based on the judges’ evaluation of the technical content and the team’s readiness to compete. Training is provided, although a technical background in the industry is preferred. Presentations will be held virtually on Feb 23rd and March 1st.

In-Person Volunteering:

  1. Onsite Volunteer: March 8 - 10, 2024

    Onsite Event Location:
    Paradise Field
    4999 Air Show Rd
    Lakeland, FL 33811

Aero Design West - California

West Volunteers - Sign Up Now!

Virtual Volunteering:

  1. Written Report Judge: Judges will review and score assigned teams' 30 page written design reports. Each judge will receive 3-4 design reports to assess based on a given rubric. Reports to be distributed around March 11th with judging to be completed at your own pace prior to April 7th.

  2. Technical Presentation Judge: Presentation judges will assess oral presentations of student teams (via Microsoft Teams) and enter scoring into an online scoring portal. The score shall be comprised of scores from each judge based on the judges’ evaluation of the technical content and the team’s readiness to compete. Training is provided, although a technical background in the industry is preferred. Presentations will be held virtually on March 22nd and March 29th.

    In-Person Volunteering:

  3. Onsite Volunteer: April 12-14, 2024

    Onsite Event Location:
    Apollo XI RC Field
    6201 Woodley Avenue
    Van Nuys, CA

Code of Conduct

All SAE Volunteers are expected to uphold the highest standards for professional conduct while volunteering for an SAE Program. Volunteers must treat all participants with courtesy, respect, and dignity. Volunteers are responsible for modeling professional conduct and for cultivating a respectful and inclusive program.

To foster a just and safe community unprofessional behavior, including that which is intimidating, threatening, violent, inappropriate, illegal, or dishonest, will be addressed by promoting accountability and following up with any actions necessary. Unprofessional behavior may result in the removal of volunteers from the program indefinitely.