LONDON, June 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from 13
universities across the U.K. will compete in a fly-off to determine
the winner of this year's Institution of Mechanical Engineers'
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) challenge competition. The
competition is being sponsored by Northrop Grumman Corporation
(NYSE: NOC) as part of its global initiative to encourage
innovative thinking in engineering and technology among today's
youth.
Undergraduate teams of young engineers participating in the UAS
Universities Challenge are required to undertake the full design
and build of a UAS and to demonstrate its operation in a
humanitarian supply mission scenario. Each team will give a
presentation on how they have developed their UASs before taking on
the other teams in a 'fly-off', where they will be challenged to
transport a package as accurately and rapidly as possible. The
system must operate autonomously performing a series of tasks such
as area search, navigating waypoints, accurately dropping a payload
and returning to base via a defined route. Teams are are also
tested on the commercial viability of their solutions throughout
the competition in what is becoming a highly competitive UAS
market.
The fly-off takes place July 1-2,
at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and Proving Ground near Leicester.
"Unmanned capabilities have been transformational in the past
decade and have a wide range of proven applications not just in
defence but also in areas of environmental monitoring, humanitarian
relief, search and rescue and disaster relief operation," said
Andrew Tyler, chief executive
Europe, for Northrop Grumman. "By
sponsoring and mentoring university students in UAS technology
projects such as this, we hope to help them learn practical
engineering skills for industry and inspire them to become the
country's future engineers, scientists and technicians."
Through participating in the Challenge students will also gain
valuable experience which will allow a smoother transition into
industry after graduation.
Northrop Grumman is committed to building partnerships with
education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) programmes at schools and universities. The
company supports a diverse range of educational programmes in
countries around the world focusing on promoting science,
technology, engineering and mathematics.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
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SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation