UTD Launches into 3rd Place at Lone Star Cup
At the 2nd annual Lone Star Cup on 22 March 2026, UTD Comet Rocketry took home the 3rd place trophy in Seymour, TX. UTD reports that despite challenges faced before launch, their 10 ft.-tall rocket Persephone (pictured above) had a perfect flight and recovery with a max altitude of 10,875 ft, max velocity of 1138 ft/s, and max acceleration of 18 g’s.
With a few tweaks, UTD promises to be IREC ready at Spaceport Midland, TX in June!
Follow UTD at AIAA UT Dallas: Posts | LinkedIn
Congrats North Texas Section Competitors!
Congratulations to all our AIAA North Texas Section presenters and especially the winners listed below at the AIAA Region IV Student Paper Competition at Rice University in Houston, TX 28-29 March 2026. UT Dallas participants are pictured above. A complete list of awards to be published soon by AIAA. AIAA UTD LinkedIn
1st Place Undergraduate Team Category – Tarleton State
Free-Space Optical Communications with Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulators for Hypersonic and Re-entry Vehicles
1st Place Graduate Category - UT Arlington
Configuration Aerodynamics Methodology for Conceptual Design of Hypersonic Vehicles
3rd Place Team Category - UT Dallas
Concentration of Ozone and Cosmic Radiation in the Stratosphere
3rd Place Undergraduate Category - UT Arlington
Image Processing and Time of Flight Analysis of Propagating Shocks
3rd Place High School Category - Newman Smith High School
Velocity and Angle Compensated Turret Aiming for Simultaneous Shooting and Motion
AIAA NTX Student Members present at UTA College of Engineering Innovation Day
On 14 April 2026, UTA Engineering hosted its annual Innovation Day showcasing 169 UTA graduate and undergraduate research projects and innovations. Pictured above, AIAA North Texas student member Austen Smith discusses her project Aerothermal Analysis and TPS Sizing of High-Speed Aerospace Vehicles with an attendee. UTA Associate Professor and AIAA Associate Fellow Dr. Bernd Chudoba is her project advisor. AIAA North Texas supported the event with judges Dr. Dennis Finley (pictured below) from the North Texas Advisory Board and Mike Fox, Section vice chair. More event photos are available at our AIAA North Texas Engage website.
Bob Wetherall presents FALCON Hypersonics at Baylor
Lockheed Martin Program Manager (ret.) and AIAA Associate Fellow Bob Wetherall presented the FALCON (Force Application and Launch from CONUS) hypersonic technology demonstration program to Baylor students and faculty on 20 April at Baylor University in Waco, TX. Dr. Liang Sun, Baylor’s AIAA Student Chapter sponsor, then provided Bob and James Sergeant, North Texas Section chair, (pictured below) a tour of Baylor’s engineering labs, wind tunnels, and UAS labs that have been developed over the last several years. Baylor just started their AIAA student chapter last year. More event photos are available at AIAA North Texas Engage.
Call for AIAA Volunteers
Collin College Engineering Speed Mentoring
1 May 2026
Sorry, CANCELLED by College
AIAA North Texas Section “Texy” Awards
Call for Nominations - Due 30 April 2026
21 May at UT Arlington
6pm
Dinner & Awards Program - $25 per person
Make Award Nomination - Google form
Purchase Event Tickets
AIAA North Texas Section Awards will be presented for the categories below, primarily for the period of the last AIAA Fiscal Year June 2025 through May 2026. Several of the awards are named in honor of the former UTA Aerospace Engineering professors who established and led the initial program at UTA. All serious nominations will be considered with final award announcements at the event itself (except for scholarship winners who will be notified ahead of time). All nominations should not exceed 1 page, not including endorsements/letters of recommendation (maximum 2). Judging will be by the North Texas Section Officers and Advisory Board.
Keynote: Lt. Gen. (ret.) Charles “CR” Davis (AF)
CR is an active experimental test pilot with L3Harris with 250+ test hours in–AT-802 and OA-1K Skyraider. Conducting envelope expansion, engine airstarts, handling qualities and mission systems testing as L3Harris converts AT-802 into USAF’s OA-1K.
2026 Award Categories
$500 High School Senior Scholarship
GPA, public service, activities, aerospace career goal (need not be for university, can be technical/mechanical/pilot/ATC goal), and AIAA activities will be considered for student attending North Texas high school.
$500 College Undergraduate Student Scholarship
GPA, public service, activities, aerospace career goal, and AIAA activities will be considered for student attending North Texas college.
Dr. Don Seath Award for Outstanding University Faculty
This award honors former UTA Aerospace Dept. Chair Dr. Don Seath (above) for his years of service to the aerospace education profession and for helping to establish the initial Aerospace Engineering program at UTA. Service/support for students, other faculty, programs, university, technical field, or AIAA will be considered for a North Texas instructor.
Outstanding High School Educator
Service/support for students, other faculty, programs, university, technical field, or AIAA will be considered for a North Texas instructor.
High School Student of the Year
GPA, public service, activities, aerospace career goal, and AIAA activities will be considered for North Texas student.
College Student of the Year
GPA, public service, activities, aerospace career goal, and AIAA activities will be considered for North Texas student.
Dr. Jack Fairchild Award for Best AIAA North Texas College Event
This award honors former UTA Professor Dr. Jack Fairchild (above) for his years of service to the aerospace education profession with his VariEze aircraft building program for students and his support and promotion of AIAA. Any AIAA supported/organized/recognized collegiate event is eligible.
Dr. Don Wilson Award for AIAA North Texas Young Professional of the Year
This award honors former UTA Professor Dr. Don Wilson (above) for his years of service to UTA. Dr. Wilson (above) was responsible for the development of the Aerodynamics Research Center (https://arc.uta.edu/) and was the graduate advisor of NASA Astronaut Kalpana Chalwa. Professional achievements, service/support for AIAA will be considered.
AIAA North Texas Outstanding Professional Achievement
Professional achievement, service/support for AIAA will be considered.
Outstanding Aerospace Achievement by a North Texas Individual
Technical, research, education, or operations will be considered.
Outstanding Aerospace Achievement by a North Texas Team
Technical, research, education, or operations will be considered.
Outstanding AIAA Support Awards (separate awards)
Service/support for AIAA will be considered for each award below.
- AIAA North Texas Student Member
- North Texas Young Professional Member
- North Texas Professional Member
- North Texas Company or Organization