Sina with his 3rd place award for the '06-'07 competition.

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has been running the student aircraft design competitions for past 3 decades, annually assigning challenges pertaining to the future of the aerospace industry. This competition stimulates upcoming engineers for innovative solutions to current challenges faced by aerospace designers. Sina Golshany became the first USC student to participate in this national competition. In 2006-07 the challenge presented by the AIAA Aircraft Design Competition was to design a light sport aircraft, given a rigorous series of requirements and design objectives. His design proposal won third place thus becoming first AME student to place in the aircraft design competition, opening a new future in USC's pursuit of excellence.

He designed a single engine aircraft, the Phoenix Flyer, capable of changing the propeller disk inclination which greatly improves the post-stall behavior of such an aircraft, therefore increasing the safety of its flight. Since this type of aircraft is specifically designed to compete in a market with the average price of 85 thousand dollars, he designed a set of detachable wing lugs which frees the owner from the expense and necessity of storage in a hanger, and allows the transportation of the aircraft on a trailer very similar to a recreational boat. This greatly reduces the accommodation cost for

A view of the Phoenix Flyer, designed by Sina Golshany in response to the AIAA 2006-07 Aircraft Design Challenge.

the owners, allowing it to be affordable for a wider range of consumers. Coupled with the rotary engine mount which improves the safety of the aircraft, Phoenix Flyer presents a concept that far exceeds the current expectations for operational cost and flight safety in the category of light sport aircrafts.

Sina has also developed a proposal for the individual undergraduate 2007-08 design competition. This contest is to develop a very light and versatile jet trainer. His design was presented to the AIAA during the summer of 2008 and the results will be announced later in the academic year. His trainer jet is capable of emulating the flying qualities of different aircrafts, making it a suitable platform for a broad spectrum of civilian and military flight training.

As an active member of the AIAA student chapter at USC, he is planning to enter the team aircraft design competition next year, and he is currently seeking team members. Having the experience of two successful endeavors in the national individual aircraft design competition, Sina is looking forward to entering the team competition which is more technically sophisticated and challenging.

Sina would like to express his gratitude for the tremendous support of his faculty mentors: professors Ron Blackwelder, Oussama Safadi, Larry Redekopp, Blaine Rawdon, Mark Page, Eva Kanso and Daniel Erwin. In addition, the assistance he received from the writing center staff, especially Daniel Ravanshenas had a significant role in his achievement. Last but not least Sina thanks USC's commitment to educational and professional excellence and looks forward to being a representative of the Trojan family.

A rendition of the Very Light Jet Transition Trainer entered for the 2007-08 competition.		A cut away view of the Very Light jet entered in the individual undergraduate 07-08 design contest.