What started out as a design project assignment for an upper-level engineering course, turned into a real-life success story for several UT Permian Basin students.
“I had an idea to create an airplane in our senior design class and my teammates followed,” said UT Permian Basin College of Engineering student Arashi Shimizu.
UT Permian Basin College of Engineering students, Arashi Shimizu, Garrett Martin, Ramiro Andujo, and Melany Azocar, along with their faculty advisors, Dr. Bibian Ogbuji and Dr. Forrest Flocker, competed at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Aero Design Competition in Dallas on May 20. The UTPB students brought home an 8th place award making them the first, first-time competitors to finish in the top 10.
“We approached [Dr. Flocker], our instructor, with the design and said we wanted to make the plane,” Andujo said. “He accepted our offer and the next week he suggested the SAE competition.”
Shimizu built an aircraft when he was in high school, so he stepped up as team leader and helped guide the project.
“My primary job was to allocate tasks to my teammates,” Shimizu said. “If they were having a hard time, I helped them to revise their work to perform better.”
The team started the project in the Fall 2021 semester and finished the construction of the plane in the Spring 2022 semester.
“On average we put in 30 to 40 hours a week the entire year,” Andujo said.
The team said there were countless nights they stayed at the engineering building past midnight to work on the airplane since many of them had classes, jobs, and other personal responsibilities to attend to.
“I honestly commend these students,” Ogbuji said. “They sincerely had to have the passion for it. This was beyond going to competition; it had more to do with their individual drive, their attitude to work and what they hope to achieve in the future.” 
The team was awarded the Best Engineering Design for blistering fast unloading an aircraft against the clock with a speed of 3.5 seconds. SAE expects each team to unload in one minute.
The results from the score standings for UTPB Team are:
- 2nd Place of 45 International Teams in Regular class for Most Balls Delivered
- 7th Place of 45 International Teams in Regular Class for Mission Performance
- 8th Place of 45 International Teams in Regular Class for Overall Standings
The students said they are grateful to the College of Engineering and the sponsors who helped them accomplish this project.
“UTPB has so many strengths to support students,” Shimizu said. “So, if you want to do projects or research, UTPB is a really, really great place to do those.”
Why should you choose the UT Permian Basin College of Engineering?
UT Permian Basin College of Engineering is ranked the #1 best value engineering schools in Texas, has awarded more than $150,000 in scholarships, and continually beats national and state averages pass rates for the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam.
The College of Engineering building officially opened its doors in fall 2019. The three-story building covers 105,801 square feet and cost $55 million. Inside you'll find state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms that lend to hands-on learning, a lecture hall, study spaces, and so much more.
