| Abstract Scope |
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) hosted the 10th Annual 3D Printed Aircraft Competition on July 11, 2026. For a decade, this annual event has provided student teams from many universities a competitive forum to learn and apply principles of aircraft design, lightweight structural design, and design for additive manufacture. The competition challenges students to design, build, and fly a fully 3D printed airframe. A limitation on power duration during flight further challenges students to develop lightweight designs that effectively integrate knowledge of structural mechanics with 3D printing process mechanics. Adding to fixed and rotary wing flight categories, the event this year developed a new competition category for energy absorption. A student team from UTA developed metrics and rules for this new category and designed and flew a vehicle with energy absorbing meta-materials. This poster discusses competition rules, categories, student designs, process considerations, lessons learned, and event results. |