Project Manager<\/strong> Chief Engineer<\/strong> Research & Development Lead<\/strong> Chief Technical Editor<\/strong> Business Relations Officer<\/strong> Aerodynamics Squad Lead<\/strong> Structures & Manufacturing Squad Lead<\/strong> Payload & Mechanisms Squad Lead<\/strong> Propulsion Squad Lead<\/strong> Avionics & Telemetry Lead<\/strong> Squad Sub-lead<\/strong> Creative Director<\/strong> The Faculty Advisor provides guidance to the team throughout the year, authorizes official club decisions and purchases, and serves as a liaison between the team and the university or sponsoring department. They offer technical expertise and institutional perspective, and provide an outside view on major design or organizational decisions. The Advisor does not direct day-to-day operations but is available as a trusted resource for the Project Manager and Chief Engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Student Leadership Positions Project ManagerThe Project Manager serves as the organizational backbone of the team, overseeing all operations from kickoff through competition day. They maintain the master schedule, coordinate across all squads, manage the team budget, and ensure milestones are met on time. The PM plans travel logistics for the competition and has final say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3748,"featured_media":0,"parent":20,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-259","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3748"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1091,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/259\/revisions\/1091"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/aiaa-club\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The Project Manager serves as the organizational backbone of the team, overseeing all operations from kickoff through competition day. They maintain the master schedule, coordinate across all squads, manage the team budget, and ensure milestones are met on time. The PM plans travel logistics for the competition and has final say on design decisions, providing perspective that accounts for requirements across all squads. They run the weekly full team meetings, are expected to be present for all squad meetings, and serve as the primary point of contact for faculty, university administration, competition organizers, and anyone outside the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chief Engineer holds ultimate technical authority over the aircraft design and ensures coherence across all engineering disciplines. At the start of the year, they build the scoring optimization code (scoring analysis) and use it to distribute quantitative requirements to squad leads, which then guide the detailed aircraft design. Throughout the year, they ensure those design goals are being met and that all squads are heading in the same direction. The Chief Engineer works closely with the Project Manager to align technical progress with the competition timeline and serves as the technical voice of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The R&D Lead drives early-stage exploration and innovation, investigating novel technologies, materials, and design approaches that could improve the team’s competitive performance. They conduct literature reviews, prototype experimental concepts, and synthesize findings into actionable recommendations for the Chief Engineer and squad leads. The R&D Lead bridges the gap between cutting-edge aerospace research and practical application within the competition constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chief Technical Editor manages the completion of the competition proposal and design report, assigning sections to squads and other leadership and leading the editing and revision process. They establish and enforce documentation standards, coordinate input from all squads, and ensure all sections appear professional and consistent. The Chief Technical Editor works on a tight schedule around report deadlines and plays a critical role in how the team’s work is perceived by judges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Business Relations Officer manages the team’s external relationships with sponsors, industry partners, and community stakeholders. They identify and pursue sponsorship opportunities, draft outreach communications and sponsorship proposals, and maintain ongoing relationships with current partners. The BRO tracks the team budget in coordination with the Project Manager and ensures sponsor recognition commitments are fulfilled. Strong communication and professional networking skills are essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Aerodynamics Squad Lead heads weekly aerodynamics squad meetings and is responsible for the analysis, design, and optimization of the aircraft’s aerodynamic performance. They select the aircraft configuration and determine wing and tail geometry, perform stability analysis, and create the CAD models of the wings and tail surfaces. The Lead coordinates closely with the Structures and Propulsion squads to ensure design compatibility and presents aerodynamic findings to the Chief Engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Structures & Manufacturing Squad Lead runs weekly structures meetings and oversees the structural design, analysis, and physical fabrication of the aircraft. They create CAD models of the fuselage and junction points, perform FEA on aircraft components, and select materials for all aircraft components. The Lead manages the build schedule, coordinates use of fabrication equipment, and works closely with other squads to integrate structural solutions with aerodynamic and mechanical constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Payload & Mechanisms Squad Lead is responsible for all systems related to payload integration, release mechanisms, and any moveable or actuated components on the aircraft. They design systems necessary for mission success, determine the internal layout of all components, and are expected to rapidly prototype all mission payloads at a faster rate than flight tests are conducted. The Lead collaborates with Structures and Avionics to ensure mechanical systems are properly integrated and validates mechanisms through rigorous ground testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Propulsion Squad Lead oversees the selection, integration, and performance optimization of the aircraft’s propulsion system, including the motor, propeller, electronic speed controller, and battery. They conduct thrust testing and power system analysis to match propulsion performance with the mission profile and ensure safe handling and storage of electrical propulsion components. The Lead works closely with Aerodynamics and Avionics to ensure the propulsion system is fully compatible with the rest of the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Avionics & Telemetry Lead directs the design and integration of all electronic systems aboard the aircraft, including flight control systems, sensors, data acquisition, and communication links. They are responsible for ensuring reliable signal integrity, proper failsafe configuration, and compliance with competition rules regarding electronics. The Lead coordinates with Propulsion and Payload squads to manage power budgets and wiring, and oversees pre-flight systems checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Squad Sub-Leads are the right hands to their squad leads, reliably completing squad tasks without supervision and making themselves available to work outside of structured meeting times. They support the Squad Lead in executing the squad’s technical workload, help onboard and mentor newer members, manage task delegation within the squad, and step in to lead the squad when the Squad Lead is unavailable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Creative Director shapes the visual identity and public presence of the team. They run the team’s social media pages on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, and design and procure team merchandise. The Creative Director ensures a consistent aesthetic across all external-facing content and may also produce media documenting the team’s build process and competition experience. They collaborate with the Business Relations Officer on sponsor-facing materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFaculty Advisor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n