Student Paper Competitions

Please direct questions to:
Kevin Haughn, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

To be considered for one of the student paper awards within the Aerospace Design and Structures Group, students must submit their abstract to one of the following areas:

• Adaptive Structures
• Complexity in Aerospace (CASE)
• Design Engineering
• Materials
• Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
• Non-Deterministic Approaches
• Spacecraft Structures
• Structural Dynamics
• Structures
• Survivability
• Systems Engineering

Authorship: Student papers should report on work primarily conducted by students in collaboration with their faculty advisors; therefore, all primary/presenting authors of papers submitted for consideration in the Student Paper Competition must be students at the time of abstract submission. The first author of the paper must remain the same between the abstract, final paper, and presentation. Up to two non-student co-authors are allowed.

Presentation: At conference, the presentation must be given by the primary author of the paper.

Extended Abstract: Student abstracts must be extended abstracts that follow the rules outlined in this Call for Papers. When submitting to the abstract submission website, select “Student Paper Competition” as the paper type. Semi-finalists will be chosen based on an evaluation of the extended abstracts. The results of the semi-final round will not be made public.

Deadline: Student manuscripts must be uploaded to the manuscript submission website by the published regular conference paper deadline for the AIAA SciTech Forum.  Students should note that the latest version of their paper submitted prior to the deadline will be the version used for judging.

If for any of these reasons a paper is removed from student paper competition, authors still have the opportunity to submit their paper by the published regular conference paper deadline for the full AIAA SciTech Forum deadline as a regular conference paper.

The following awards will be presented to the winners where a single paper can only win one award:

Jefferson Goblet Student Paper Award: The highest ranked Aerospace Design and Structures paper based on manuscript and presentation quality is recognized with the Jefferson Goblet Student Paper Award, which was established over twenty years ago and named to honor Thomas Jefferson. The recipient receives a monetary award ($500), a certificate, and a goblet modeled after a 1788 design by Thomas Jefferson.

American Society for Composites Student Paper Award: The highest ranked composites-related paper based on manuscript and presentation quality is recognized with the American Society for Composites Student Paper Award. The recipient receives a monetary award ($500) and a certificate.

Lockheed Martin Student Paper Award in Structures: The Lockheed Martin Student Paper Award in Structures recognizes an outstanding structures-related paper, based on manuscript and presentation quality. The recipient receives a monetary award ($500) and a certificate.

Harry H. and Lois G. Hilton Student Paper Award in Structures: The Harry H. and Lois G. Hilton Student Paper Award in Structures recognizes an outstanding graduate-level, structures related paper, based on manuscript and presentation quality. The recipient receives a monetary award ($500) and a certificate.

SwRI Student Paper Award in Non-Deterministic Approaches: The Southwest Research Institute Student Paper Award in Non-Deterministic Approaches recognizes an outstanding NDA-related paper, based on manuscript and presentation quality. The recipient receives a monetary award ($500) and a certificate.

The Aerospace Design and Structures Group Student Paper Competitions include submissions to the following topics:

• Adaptive Structures
• Complexity in Aerospace (CASE)
• Design Engineering
• Materials
• Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
• Non-Deterministic Approaches
• Spacecraft Structures
• Structural Dynamics
• Structures
• Survivability
• Systems Engineering

Please direct questions to:
James Michael, Auburn University

WALTER R. LEMPERT STUDENT PAPER AWARD IN DIAGNOSTICS FOR FLUID MECHANICS, PLASMA PHYSICS, AND ENERGY TRANSFER

The Walter R. Lempert Student Paper Award in Diagnostics for Fluid Mechanics, Plasma Physics, and Energy Transfer is sponsored by the Aerodynamic Measurement Technology (AMT), Plasmadynamics and Lasers (PDL), and Propellants and Combustion (PC) Technical Committees (TC).

The award is given on an annual basis in memory of Dr. Walter R. Lempert. Walter Lempert was an outstanding scientist and engineer who had a profound impact on AIAA and in particular these three TCs. The Walter R. Lempert Student Paper Award is given to the most outstanding student paper submitted to sessions organized by these TCs at the annual AIAA SciTech Forum.

The Award shall consist of $500 cash and a Certificate of Merit identifying the name of the Award, the Award winner, the title of the paper for which they won the award, and the date of the award. If required by the IRS, the winning student shall submit a W-9/W-8 to AIAA. The Award winner will be recognized during the AIAA SciTech Forum in the following year. The Walter Lempert Subcommittee Chair shall provide winner information to AIAA no later than 60 days prior to the Forum.

Any additional funds available through the endowment may be used to support the travel costs for the award winner to attend the conference to receive the award in person. Additional funds may also be used to facilitate honorable mention awards for other outstanding student papers eligible for The Walter R. Lempert Student Paper Award in Diagnostics for Fluid Mechanics, Plasma Physics, and Energy Transfer. Disbursements of funds is based upon the formal AIAA Foundation agreement.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

This award is co-sponsored by the Aerodynamic Measurement Technology (AMT), Plasmadynamics and Lasers (PDL), and Propellants and Combustion (PC) Technical Committees. The technical paper must be presented at an AMT, PDL, or PC affiliated session at AIAA SciTech.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

1. The paper must be in the area of measurement techniques and related to the technical disciplines covered by the AMT, PDL and PC technical committees.
2. The paper should be evaluated on the innovative nature of the diagnostic or its use. Applications of mature diagnostics are not eligible for this award.
3. The papers will be scored according to the following formula:
   1. Technical Quality/Completeness (50 pts) – Some of the considerations which you may wish to apply here are: clearly stated purpose, a well-developed introduction, methods used, the inclusion of an uncertainty analysis if applicable, well supported conclusions, breadth of references, or other technically applicable criteria.
   2. Technical Relevance (25 pts) – Considerations here should be contribution to the state-of-the-art or knowledge, timeliness, innovation, etc. in diagnostics for fluid mechanics, plasma physics, and energy transfer
   3. Readability (25 pts) – Text, grammar, figures, tables, etc.

Please direct questions to:
Andrea Da Ronch, University of Southampton
Yunjun Xu, University of Central Florida

AFM STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION

The AFM Technical Committee, with the support of Aeroprobe Corporation, is sponsoring the AFM Student Paper Competition. Eligible written papers and oral presentations will be judged by members of the AFM Technical Committee. The competition is within the AFM conference and not part of the larger SciTech Forum and Exhibition. The winner of the competition will be notified at the conference and receive both a certificate and a $500 award.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

To be eligible for the competition, the entrant must be the primary author of the submitted paper and the work must have been performed while the author was a student. As such, recent graduates may still be eligible. Entrants will present their papers in the AFM technical sessions, where judges will also be in attendance. To enter the competition, the “Student Paper Competition” option must be selected instead of “Technical Manuscript” when submitting a manuscript via the conference website. Note that when entering the Student Paper Competition, the paper is still published and scheduled within the technical sessions, as normal. Papers are due by the regular final manuscript deadline (01 December 2026).

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

The scoring for the award will be equally based on the written paper and oral presentation. Judging of the written paper is based on the criteria:

1. Relevance of the topic to atmospheric flight mechanics
2. Organization and clarity
3. Appreciation of relevant technical issues and sources of error
4. Meaningful conclusions of the research.

JUDGING OF THE ORAL PRESENTATION IS ASED ON THE CRITERIA:

1. Background and problem definition statement
2. Explanation of technical approach
3. Explanation of research results

Please direct questions to:
Krishna Sampigethaya, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Jarrett Iannotti, Lockheed Martin

BEST STUDENT PAPER AWAR IN AEROSPACE CYBERSECURITY

The Best Student Paper Award in Aerospace Cybersecurity recognizes outstanding contributions in the field of cybersecurity within the aviation and space domains at AIAA SciTech. This award highlights excellence in research, innovation, and technical depth demonstrated by student authors in the cybersecurity technical discipline. Students who wish to be considered for this award must select the “Student Paper Competition” option during the submission process. Full papers will be evaluated based on AIAA requirements and technical committee selection criteria. The top 3 to 5 finalist papers will be selected, and their authors will be invited to present their work in a dedicated session. The winner will be announced during AIAA SciTech, recognizing their exceptional research and contributions to advancing aerospace cybersecurity.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

To be eligible for this award, the student must be an AIAA member or student member, the primary author of the paper, and in attendance at the conference to present the paper. In addition, all work must have been performed while the author was a student.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

The written papers will be judged based on the following criteria: (1) originality (is the work original, or is it something that has been addressed in the past); (2) technical quality (appropriate level of technicality and free of errors); (3) organization, completeness, grammar and usage (style and clarity); (4) literature review/acknowledgement of prior work and explanation of the relevance to the work presented in the paper; (5) accuracy of experimental or numerical results (ref. AIAA standards for journals); (6) importance/contribution to field. The student author of the best paper will receive a certificate at the forum.

Please direct questions to:
Elaine Petro, Cornell University
Alejandro Lopez Ortega, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

ELECTRIC PROPULSION BEST STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION

Awarded to the best student-authored paper selected from those presented at the annual SciTech conference. This paper has been judged by members of the electric propulsion technical committee to be of outstanding technical quality and of significant impact to the field.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

To be eligible for this award, the student must be an AIAA member or student member, the primary author of the paper, and in attendance at the conference to present the paper. In addition, all work must have been performed while the author was a student. Any paper in which a student is the first author, and that is presented by that student, can be considered for the award. The winner will be announced during the AIAA SciTech Forum, recognizing their exceptional research and contributions to advancing the field of electric propulsion.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

Papers will be judged by a committee of members of the Electric Propulsion Technical Committee with diverse expertise. Papers will be judged according to the same numerical scoring categories as the standard Electric Propulsion Technical Committee best paper rubric.

Please direct questions to:
Jeff Marchetta, The University of Memphis
Álvaro Romero-Calvo, Georgia Institute of Technology

AIAA GRAVITY DEPENDENT SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY (GDST) STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION

The AIAA Gravity-Dependent Science and Technology Technical Committee welcomes submissions to the Student Paper Competition at the AIAA SciTech Forum. This competition recognizes outstanding student contributions to the field of gravity-related research.

Papers will be evaluated by technical committee members based on both the written manuscript and the oral presentation. Full-time students at institutions of higher education are encouraged to participate.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

• Full manuscript must not exceed 25 pages (i.e., including references and appendices).
• AIAA Student Membership is required.
• The main body of the work/manuscript/data must not be published in another journal, proceedings, or conferences.
• The use of artificial intelligence beyond grammar checking is strictly forbidden.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

• Quality of technical content: 20/100
• Originality: 15/100
• Practicality and impact: 15/100
• Knowledge of subject: 15/100
• Delivery and adherence to AIAA style guidelines: 25/100

Please direct questions to:
Robin Vaughan, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab
Animesh Chakravarthy, University of Texas at Arlington

AIAA GUIDANCE NAVIGATION AND CONTROL BEST GRADUATE STUDENT PAPER

The GNC Technical Committee will host a Graduate Student Paper Competition at SciTech 2027.  In addition to appropriate recognition, all finalists in the GNC Graduate Student Paper Competition will receive a monetary award of $500 and complimentary registration.  The overall winner will receive an additional $1,000 award.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

For this competition, full draft manuscript papers are sought from graduate students on GNC technical research topics, from which up to six finalists will be selected by a panel of judges for inclusion in a special GNC Graduate Student Paper Competition session. Author eligibility and manuscript submission requirements are described below. Eligibility Requirements

• A student must be the first or sole author, enrolled at an institution of higher learning.
• Upon selection as a finalist the student must provide to the Competition Chairs a ‘Statement of Contributions’ that delineates the specific technical contributions of each co-author. Furthermore, the student must assert that they have provided the preponderant share of input to both the technical and written dimensions of the paper and must also include the signatures of all co-authors.
• The student author must be a member of AIAA to become a finalist in the competition.
• The student author must be a full-time graduate student in good academic standing at their university/institution at the time of submission.
• Full draft manuscript not exceeding a total length of 25 pages.
• The student author is not the overall winner of the preceding year’s competition.
• Only one paper submission per primary author.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

The finalists for the Graduate Student Paper Competition will be selected on the basis of three reviewer scores, with consideration to technical content (30%), originality (30%), practical application (20%) and style and form (20%). Reviewers will be members of the GNC Technical Committee. Each finalist will present their paper in a special session during the conference. The presentation will be evaluated by a panel of judges. The overall winner of the paper competition will be decided on the basis of scores granted to the paper as well as the presentation.

Please direct questions to:
Rajnikant Sharma, University of Cincinnati

INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS BEST STUDENT PAPER

Students are invited to submit extended abstracts by the abstract submission deadline in any broad area of Intelligent Systems to the Intelligent Systems Student Paper Competition. Systems of interest include both military and commercial aerospace systems and those ground systems that are part of test, development, or operations of aerospace systems. Technologies that enable autonomy (i.e. safe and reliable operation with minimal or no human intervention) as well as collaborative human-machine teaming in complex aerospace systems/subsystems are of interest. These include but are not limited to: autonomous and expert systems; discrete planning/scheduling algorithms; intelligent data/image processing, learning, and adaptation techniques; data fusion and reasoning; and knowledge engineering. The application of such technologies to problems that highlight advanced air mobility, certification, carbon emissions/sustainability, space traffic management, and cislunar operations are of particular interest.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

• All papers that are not selected will be forwarded to the area chairs for possible inclusion as regular conference papers. A separate student paper competition session is usually held on Monday during SciTech. Students will also present during regular technical sessions.
• Papers will also be included in the conference proceedings, and you will also be required to present as a regular paper in the AIAA SciTech (Two presentations will occur, one on Monday and one in the regular conference schedule).
• Please follow the abstract submission requirements in the Intelligent Systems Technical Discipline Call for Papers.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

A student competition paper subcommittee and the chair will review the full draft manuscripts submitted as IS student paper competition papers based upon:

• Originality
• Practical Applications or Theoretical Foundations
• Long-Term relevance to IS Technologies
• Technically New, Innovative, or Constructive Review
• Professional Integrity (Credits prior work, claims are supported by results, is objective)
• Clear Presentation (writing, organizing, and graphics)

All papers that are not selected will be forwarded to the area chairs for possible inclusion as regular conference papers.

Directly after this session, the subcommittee will decide the winner based on both the paper and the presentation, and the student will be notified by email. The winner will be presented with an award, “Best Student Paper.”

Please direct questions to:
Devina P. Sanjaya, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Benjamin Manipadam, Beyond New Horizons

MVCE BEST STUDENT PAPER

Organized by Meshing, Visualization, and Computational Environments (MVCE) Technical Committee

Sponsored by

The MVCE Student Paper Competition invites undergraduate and graduate students to showcase their innovative approaches to meshing, visualization, and computational environments. Original research papers on all aspects of MVCE are welcomed. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• AI/ML-Assisted Geometry Modeling and Meshing
• High-Order (Curved) Mesh Adaptation
• Mesh Generation Methods and Grid Quality Metrics for Large-Scale Meshes
• Visualization and Knowledge Extraction of Large-Scale Data Sets
• Automated Workflows and Frameworks for Engineering Design and Analysis
• High Performance Computing (HPC)

This competition aims to foster research creativity, provide a platform for students to present their work, and recognize their academic excellence. All participants of this competition must submit an extended abstract and a full manuscript and present their work at the 2027 AIAA SciTech Forum. The student winner will receive a certificate and a $500 award.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

• The student participant must be the first author on the extended abstract and full manuscript. The first authorship signifies that the student contributes at least 85% to the project, paper, and presentation (including Q&A).
• The student participant must be the presenter of the technical paper.
• Only one paper submission per student participant is allowed.
• The student participant cannot be the winner of the preceding year’s competition.
• Extended abstract and full manuscript must be in AIAA paper format and submitted by the listed deadline on the AIAA website.
• Full manuscript must not exceed 25 pages (i.e., including references and appendices).
• All papers submitted to this competition will be included in the conference proceedings and presented alongside other regular papers at the 2027 AIAA SciTech Forum.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

The extended abstracts, full manuscripts, and oral presentations (including Q&A) will be judged by MVCE Technical Committee. The judges consist of five MVCE experts from academia, industry, and national laboratories. Judges are selected carefully to avoid any conflict of interests. The evaluation criteria are:

• Technical Content (30%)
• Originality (30%)
• Practical Applications or Theoretical Foundations (20%)
• Written and Oral Communication (20%)

Specific details on the evaluation criteria can be found here .

Please direct questions to:
Mary Catharine Martin, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Steve Walstrom, Lockheed Martin Corporation

MODELING AND SIMULATION TECHNOLOGIES BEST STUDENT PAPER AWARD

The AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Best Student Paper Award recognizes the best paper and presentation by a university student at the SciTech Forum 2027 amplifying quality contributions to the modeling and simulation discipline.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

A minimum of 4 total submissions is required to have a special student session and confer the award.  Every effort will be made to schedule a special student paper session as early as possible in the SciTech Forum program to allow the winner of the competition to be announced at the Awards Luncheon at the conference.   For both experience and professional feedback, students will present their paper twice at SciTech, if session scheduling allows – once at the special student session, and once as part of a regular session that is most appropriate to their topic.  If at least 4 submissions are not received, a student’s submission will still be considered for the regular conference.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

Student paper presentations will be judged on technical content, use of media, delivery style, and organization and flow.   The written student papers will be judged on technical quality, importance/relevance, originality, and conciseness/style/clarity.

Please direct questions to:
James Creel, Texas A&M University

PLASMADYNAMICS AND LASERS BEST STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION

The Plasmadynamics and Lasers Student Paper Competition is selected from papers submitted to Plasmadynamics and Lasers sessions at SciTech 2027. Candidates for the contest are found by e-mailing all first authors of submitted papers around one month prior to a forum. Any paper in which a student is the first author, and that is presented by that student, can be considered for the award. Non-students, such as the student’s advisor(s) etc., can be included as co-authors as long as the paper describes work that has been performed primarily by the student. Judging is performed in two steps. First, the presentations of all the contestants are evaluated by Plasmadynamics and Lasers members. The papers corresponding to the best 3 to 5 presentations are then judged by a committee of Plasmadynamics and Lasers members, who then select the best paper recipient.

Please direct questions to:
Justin Kauffman, Virginia Tech
Anaiya Reliford, Howard University

SENSOR SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION FUSION BEST STUDENT PAPER

The Sensor Systems and Information Fusion Technical Committee is holding a student paper competition for the AIAA SciTech Forum.  Students are invited to submit papers that address theoretical, analytical, simulated, experimental, or implementation results related to aerospace applications for sensor systems, information and sensor fusion, and autonomous sensing resource management. Advances in the fusion of sensor networks, cooperative sensing, autonomy, and multi-system collaboration are of particular interest. Concepts regarding Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and Joint All Domain Operations (JADO) are of interest as well. Additionally, advanced sensors (neuromorphic, quantum, etc.), sensors for situational awareness, and new sensor designs and/or sensor hardware are encouraged topic focus areas.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

May be submitted/presented under any of the Sensor System and Information Fusion topics at SciTech 2027.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

The scoring for the award will be based on the written paper (50%) and oral presentation (50%). The written paper will be judged on the following categories: Technical Quality (25%), Relevance (25%), Originality (25%), and Clarity (25%).

Please direct questions to:
Andrew Dahir, MIT Lincoln Lab

SMALL SATELLITE BEST STUDENT PAPER AWARD

The AIAA Small Satellite Technical Committee is proud to host the Best Student Paper Competition at the 2027 AIAA SciTech Forum. This competition recognizes outstanding student contributions to the field of small satellite systems.

Papers will be evaluated by technical committee members based on both the written manuscript and the oral presentation. Full-time students at any academic level are encouraged to participate. Eligibility requirements are defined by AIAA and outlined at the top of this page.

For more details about the evaluation process, please contact [email protected].

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

Students are encouraged to submit extended abstracts that are approximately 70% complete, demonstrating the maturity of their work. When submitting to the abstract submission website, students should select “Student Paper Competition” as the paper type. Semi-finalists will be chosen based on an evaluation of the extended abstracts, though the results of the semi-final round will not be made public.

Papers must make meaningful contributions to the body of literature on small satellites and should clearly explain their specific relevance to small satellite systems. Final student manuscripts must be uploaded to the conference manuscript submission website by 23:59 Eastern Time (EST-USA) on 13 November 2026, which is earlier than the deadline for regular technical papers. Students who miss this November deadline may be removed from the student paper competition but may still be allowed to present in the oral session.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

The award evaluation will be based on both the written manuscript (75%) and oral presentation (25%).

WRITTEN EVALUATION CRITERIA:

• Impact, 1 = Work does not advance the field, 10 = excellent contribution to the field of small satellites
• Novelty, 1 = The work has been done before, 10 = The approach is highly original
• Background and references, 1 = there is no related work discussion or background, 10 = the paper includes an excellent summary of related work and background
• Writing, 1 = The paper is not well written, 10 = The paper is well written, well organized, and clear
• Technical Merit, 1 = The paper does not show any technical merit, 10 = The paper shows a good grasp on the technical aspects behind the paper and demonstrates technical merit.

PRESENTATION EVALUATION CRITERIA:

• Presentation (Done in Person), 1 = The presenter is not well prepared and does not convey the topic adequately, 10 = The presenter is well prepared and conveys the topic adequately.

Please direct questions to:
Eldad Avital, Queen Mary University of London
Liwei Zhang, University of Texas at Arlington
Bhupendra Khandelwal, University of Alabama
Santosh Shanbhogue, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

TERRESTRIAL ENERGY SYSTEMS BEST STUDENT PAPER AWARD

This award will be presented to the best student paper submitted under Terrestrial Energy Systems Committee at SciTech 2027.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

Entries will be considered based on the following criteria: The scope of the paper is within the 15+ subtopics in the TES discipline; originality; scientific merit; creativity; and technological impact in the field of terrestrial energy systems.

Please direct questions to:
Dan Clarke, Air Force Research Laboratory
Mishal Thapa, Clarkson University

SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE STUDENT PAPER AWARD IN UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION

Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) (previously, Non-Deterministic Approaches (NDA)) conference encompass methods and technologies for understanding, quantifying, and managing uncertainty in the design, manufacturing, testing, and operation of aerospace systems. These approaches integrate computational, experimental, and data-driven techniques to characterize and propagate uncertainty through complex, multidisciplinary systems; enable design and optimization under uncertainty; and assess system reliability and risk. The conference welcomes advances in uncertainty quantification, verification and validation, risk analysis, probabilistic surrogate modeling, digital twins and digital threads, AI/ML-enabled uncertainty methods, and decision-making under uncertainty. Contributions spanning foundational methodological developments, novel algorithms, and high-impact aerospace applications are encouraged. Contributions spanning foundational methodological developments, novel algorithms, and high-impact aerospace applications are encouraged.

The Southwest Research Institute Student Paper Award in Uncertainty Quantification recognizes an outstanding UQ-related paper, based on manuscript and presentation quality. The submissions must be made by selecting Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) as the topic to be eligible for the award. The recipient receives a monetary award ($500) and a certificate.

Please direct questions to:
Andrew Lacher
Keith Hoffler, Adaptive Aerospace Group

UNCREWED AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS STUDENT BEST PAPER AWARD

Single paper awarded based on technical discipline selection criteria below.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

• Must be submitted/presented under any of the Unmanned Systems topics.
• It is strongly recommended that each paper should have no more than four (4) authors and that the majority of the authors are students. Adhering to general practice of publication standards and ethics, only authors contributing to the composition of the paper should be included.
• There is strict implementation of AIAA’s “No paper, no Podium. No podium, no paper” policy.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

Evaluation will be conducted by a panel of judges from AIAA’s Uncrewed and Autonomous Systems Integration & Outreach Committee (UASIC) and other relevant committees, who do not have a conflict of interest with the paper and presentation being evaluated. Broadly, the papers will be evaluated on the following aspects: Problem Statement, Literature Review, Technical Approach, Graphics and Data Presentation, Overall Scientific/Community Impact, Presentation/Discussion. More information about exact evaluation criteria will be communicated to the papers/authors selected for in person presentation at SciTech 2027.

Please direct questions to:
Kranthi Deveerasetty, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Puneet Singh, North Carolina State University

V/STOL AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION

The V/STOL Aircraft Systems Technical Committee sponsors its Student Paper competition at SciTech.  The students will present their works in the V/STOL Technical Sessions at SciTech.

The V/STOL Technical Committee awards a cash prize of $500 to the author of its Best Student Paper.

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS & OTHER RULES

• If an eligible student author is selected for the V/STOL Best of Sessions Award in competition with all authors of the V/STOL sessions, then a separate V/STOL Best Student Author award will NOT be presented.
• If the set of eligible authors / presenters for V/STOL session awards amounts to three or less for a particular award, then the V/STOL Competition Chair may disqualify that competition for lack of rigor and present no award.

TECHNICAL DISCIPLINE SELECTION CRITERIA:

V/STOL Technical Committee’s reviewers will evaluate each student’s final Forum manuscript and presentation based on four criteria: 1) Originality and creativity 30%; 2) Technical content and quality 30%; 3) Relevance to V/STOL 20%; and 4) Organization and Clarity 20%.  The reviewers will judge “relevance” by the work’s contribution to the V/STOL Call for Papers.  They assess “organization” partly by the paper’s conformity to the AIAA SciTech Forum Manuscript Template and the reviewers judge “Organization and Clarity” by the coherence and intelligibility of the manuscript and presentation and by effective use of time during the presentation.