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Captain’s Message

The aerospace industry is among the fastest-growing industries worldwide. In 2025, the market size was estimated at 373.6 billion USD and is projected to double by 2035.

At Queen’s Aerospace Design Team (QADT), we are dedicated to pushing boundaries with the development of high performance & autonomous UAVs for national and international competitions in Canada, Europe, and the United States. With the continued growth in industry aerospace applications in recent years, QADT has seen an unparalleled expansion, and our dedicated team of more than 150 undergraduate students has not disappointed.

Last year, the technical team developed 2 brand new UAVs from the ground up to compete at the AEAC 2025 student competition hosted in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Including a fully carbon fiber fixed wing aircraft with a two-axis gimbal to find and map wildfires, as well as a heavy-lift quadcopter designed to pick-up and drop-off water for autonomous fire extinguishing. While in parallel, the QADT research team wrote two research papers for submission to the IMAV conference paper call and the VFS student design competition. Respectively, these papers focused on the application of DBD plasma actuators to reattach airflow separation and a hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft design to maximize loitering time.

This year, we are going even further with new designs and initiatives as we prepare to expand our technical capabilities and compete in not just the AEAC 2026 student competition, but also the AIAA Design, Build, Fly competition hosted in Wichita, KS, while continuing to publish leading edge research papers.

QADT offers a unique opportunity for development and growth for students in any discipline, including gaining technical experience in Aeromechanics, Electrical, and Software, and the opportunity to conduct research in a variety of unique fields, as well as the chance to gain experience in business and management. QADT is looking to continue its rapid growth and expansion by taking on like-minded and motivated individuals to not just continue the development of advanced drone technology, but push the boundaries of what student teams are capable of.

We eagerly await your application.

‘Aviation is proof that given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.’

— Eddie Rickenbacker, WWI flying ace

Prototyping Team Member

Welcome to research at QADT! Here, we turn the most ambitious ideas into reality and provide you with the best research experience at the undergraduate level through our three sub-teams: Enhancement, VTOL Prototyping, and Software Research.

The primary focus of the VTOL Prototyping sub-team is creating a cutting-edge aircraft design with Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capabilities, pushing the limits of VTOL engineering. The team is challenged to design such an aircraft for the Vertical Flight Society’s Student Design Competition, in partnership with world-leading aerospace companies. Each year this competition presents a new mission and set of design requirements, tackling current challenges in the aviation industry. This year, the competition focuses on Hybrid Electric Tiltrotors, looking for innovative design solutions that utilize this emerging technology to reduce the carbon footprint of aviation.

Throughout this design project, the team will combine detailed research with the engineering design process and approach to problem solving. General members can expect to gain valuable experience in the areas of academic research, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modelling, Computational Flow Dynamics (CFD) simulations, technical report writing, and engineering design in general.

In 2024, the Research Team wrote two papers focused on drone optimization. The Enhancement research sub-team focused on analyzing DBD plasma actuators to re-attach airflow separation, and the Prototyping sub-team designed a hydrogen fuel-cell powered aircraft. These research teams have laid a strong foundation for the future and look to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible for QADT.

VTOL Prototyping Members can expect to gain skills in the areas of:

• Project Management

• Simulation Software (CFD)
• 3D Modelling software (CAD)
• Research Paper / Technical Report Writing
• Engineering design process

Application & Interview Details

We do not look at your resume as a deciding factor. We weigh it the least compared to your written application and interview.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: September 11th, 2025 (11:59 PM EST)

Interviews will occur online after the deadline. We are happy to provide accommodations for these interviews, so please reach out to us and let us know how we can make the process more accessible for you!

Contact Information

Please email any questions or concerns to aero @engsoc.queensu.ca or text @queensaero on Instagram!