First place – DHBW Ravensburg – 'The Sentinel System'
'The Sentinel System' concept from the team at DHBW Ravensburg relies on proven technology and a high-aspect-ratio wing to enable flight durations of up to 50 hours.
The winning team from the University of Stuttgart at the DLR Design Challenge 2022
The 2022 DLR Design Challenge was won by students from the University of Stuttgart. From left: Nicolas Mandry, Johannes Ritter, Benjamin Knoblauch, Markus Fischer (Chair of the DLR jury), Hannes Kahlo, Ahmet Günay Can, Prishit Modi (not shown)
An innovative concept for a supersonic aircraft – an environmental successor to Concorde as it were – was presented by a team from the University of Stuttgart and awarded third place. The concept 'HELESA' proposes a long-stretched aircraft with distinctive variable forward swept wings.
Shape the future of aviation technology with your own ideas during your studies. Develop designs for efficient, low-emission and, if possible, climate-neutral aircraft that address the problems of today's and tomorrow's world. These are the tasks that the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been setting students throughout Germany since 2017. The DLR Design Challenge addresses different topics each year.
Motivation and objective
The air transport sector will face enormous economic and environmental challenges in the coming years. These require innovative and sustainable ideas and approaches in order to offer added value to society. In this context, since 2017 DLR has held an annual competition for students to come up with futuristic aircraft concepts that are geared towards current areas of focus in aeronautics research. Most importantly, the designs should comprise a coherent overall concept, with a focus on the specific key theme for that year's competition. New issues are emerging in aeronautics research, particularly against the background of climate change and digitalisation. The design concepts should properly engage with issues that are currently critical in aircraft design, with a view to shaping the aeronautical technologies of the future with new innovations and visions. Radical new ideas are therefore required. In recent years, for example, hydrogen-powered aircraft, parcel-delivery drones, and supersonic aircraft have been designed to have a significantly reduced environmental impact.
DLR Design Challenge 2024
This year, the DLR Design Challenge 2024 is calling for the development of concepts for new, climate-efficient aircraft to serve a network of regional routes. By integrating novel concepts and sustainable technologies, the aircraft should help to reduce climate impact while also enabling cost-efficient operating models for regional flight routes. Tackle it as a team and submit your concept!
Procedure
Any students who are interested can register through their university department. They will then receive an invitation to the kick-off event, which usually takes place at a DLR location. The task for this year will be announced there. Some general information about the Design Challenge will also be given, along with an introduction to the topic by experts who are dealing with the issue in their research work. Students will also have the opportunity to exchange ideas with participants from other universities as part of a workshop. The aircraft designs and whole-system concepts will then be developed over a period of several months.
Once the reports have been submitted, the Design Challenge will culminate in the final event, which will also take place at a DLR location. A jury of DLR experts, made up of the Divisional Board Member for Aeronautics and several institute directors from the field of aeronautics research, is responsible for reviewing and evaluating the aircraft designs. This evaluation will be based on the reports and presentations that have been submitted. Finally, the winning teams will be announced and congratulated.
The award-winning teams will be able to present their aircraft concepts at an aeronautics conference and receive an exclusive insight into one of the aeronautics research institutes.
Timeline
8 February 2024
Early announcement of the topic and schedule of the DLR Design Challenge
14 March 2024
E-mail registration deadline for teams via the university's supervising chair
26 March 2024
Kick-off event at DLR, publication of the detailed task brief
21 July 2024
Submission of reports in English (may include content of own Bachelor's and Master's theses)
August 2024
8 August 2024
Closing event at DLR, presentation of the theses and subsequent award ceremony
September/October 2024
Presentation of award-winning work at an aeronautical congress
