Worcester Polytechnic Institute Student Hannah McCallum of Lafayette Among 1st Place Winners in Student AIAA Competition

2014 May 19

Hannah McCallum of Lafayette, Colo., a senior majoring in aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering, is one of five Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) students to win 1st prize in the "Team Category" at the Aerospace Industries of America (AIAA) Region 1 Student Paper Conference held at Cornell University in April.

The team's winning paper was titled "Experimental and Computational Investigation of a Dual Bell Nozzle." Their work was advised by Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor John Blandino.

For the AIAA Student Conference, students are required to submit a paper prior to presenting. A panel of judges from academia and industry evaluate papers and presentations in single and team category competitions. WPI students were competing with teams from Boston University, Cornell, Clarkson, Lafayette College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Penn State, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Wentworth Institute of Technology.

A total of four WPI teams competed in the AIAA Student Conference, and in addition to the 1st place team, another WPI team won 2nd Prize in the Team Category. Travel and participation in this competition was arranged by WPI's AIAA Student Chapter. The AIAA New England Section and the Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium also provided travel support for the teams.

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Perspective Program. There are more than 35 WPI project centers throughout North America and Central America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe.