About Us
DesignBuildFly at MPSTME, founded in July 2025 at the Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering, Mumbai, is a student-led aerospace design team competing in the AIAA Design/Build/Fly competition. Comprising primarily mechanical engineering students, the team designs, fabricates, and tests radio-controlled aircraft to meet rigorous mission requirements.
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In its inaugural year, DesignBuildFly secured 20th place in Round 1 of the 2025-2026 competition. The current challenge requires the development of a banner-towing bush plane capable of executing charter-flight ground operations and aerial banner deployment missions.
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The team’s technical philosophy centres on advanced composite materials and precision manufacturing. We specialise in carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRP) for primary structures, integrated with additive manufacturing processes to achieve superior strength-to-weight ratios and geometric complexity unattainable through conventional methods. This approach enables high-performance airframe design while optimising resource utilisation—allowing the team to compete effectively against significantly larger and better-funded programmes.
Beyond design and fabrication, DesignBuildFly places strong emphasis on technical development, delivering structured training in flight dynamics, stability analysis, and performance prediction to every member. The result is a cohesive, high-calibre team prepared for the April 2026 fly-off in Wichita, Kansas.