Academic Aviation Club of Poznan University of Technology achieves success in Mexico.
Held from 13–15 March 2026 in Querétaro, Mexico, Aero Design MX is an international student engineering competition sponsored by leading industry partners, including Siemens. This year's event marked the fourth participation of the Poznan University of Technology team.
Competing against 17 teams, the Polish students secured 1st place in the overall classification while also receiving the Innovation Award for the most innovative aircraft design.
This achievement equals the team's best previous result in Mexico, recorded in 2023. Notably, while the winning aircraft in 2023 was flown by a Mexican pilot, this year's victory was achieved with the model piloted by a member of the University's own Academic Aviation Club.
The Team
The Poznan University of Technology team consisted of:
- Wiktoria Grychowska
- Mikołaj Lewandowski (pilot)
- Sebastian Niedźwiedź
- Aleksandra Paśko
- Piotr Pilacki
- Juliusz Wierbiłowicz
- Kacper Zabojski (team captain)
The team was supervised by Antoni Dąbkiewicz. Safety support was provided by Senior Warrant Officer Arkadiusz Kornowicz of the Wanda Modlibowska Poznań Aero Club, while the Ministry-funded project was led by Dr Radosław Górzeński.
The Award-Winning Aircraft
The team presented an unmanned aircraft featuring:
- a 200 cm wingspan,
- an empty weight of just 2.4 kg,
- a lightweight truss-frame structure made of 2 mm plywood covered with film,
- carbon-fibre wing spars,
- a rectangular wing using a Selig airfoil,
- a Dualsky electric motor powered by a LiPo 4S 3000 mAh battery,
- and a flight speed of approximately 16 m/s.
According to the judges, the team's success was primarily due to the exceptional consistency of its flight performance and the very low weight of the aircraft, which together delivered outstanding competition results.
Teams from Mexico, Colombia, and Poland took part in this year's competition.
Upcoming International Competitions
The Academic Aviation Club will continue its successful 2026 season by competing in several prestigious international events:
- 17–19 April 2026 – SAE Aero Design West, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- 14–17 September 2026 – AUVSI SUAS, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
- Late September 2026 – TeknoFest, Şanlıurfa, Türkiye
Project Funding and Partners
The team's participation in Aero Design MX forms part of the project "Design and Construction of Unmanned Aircraft for International Academic Competitions (2025–2026)", funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education under the programme "Support for Students in Enhancing Their Competencies and Skills."
Additional financial and organizational support was provided by Poznan University of Technology, the Faculty of Environmental and Energy Engineering, the Faculty of Civil and Transport Engineering, the Wanda Modlibowska Poznań Aero Club, the City of Poznań, MESKO, ANSYS, Pratt & Whitney, CCS Druk, NicroMetal, and Terkon.
More information about the project:
http://www.aerodesign.put.poznan.pl/
Competition website:
https://aerodesign.mx/
