• 28 Apr 2025 07:00 AM
• 0

Design Build Vertical Flight 2025

By Adithya Ramaswami
Vertiflite, May/June 2025

The Vertical Flight Society’s fifth annual Design-Build-Vertical Flight (DBVF) Student Competition returned to Churchville, Maryland, this spring with renewed energy, an urgent mission theme and a powerful demonstration of student ingenuity. The fly-off event was held April 1–4, 2025, at the facilities of Applied Technology Operation facilities of annual DBVF host sponsor SURVICE Engineering.

This year’s challenge was both timely and technically ambitious: design, build and fly an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) tailored for wildfire response.

With drones increasingly integrated into real-world firefighting operations, from perimeter scouting to payload delivery, this year’s scenario gave student teams a chance to build their aircraft to support operations with lifesaving potential. A record 19 teams submitted letters of intent to compete at the beginning of the competition, and 11 teams made it to the end and competed at this year’s flyoff, the culmination for the competition.

Designing for Urgency: The Wildfire Mission

The 2024–2025 competition asked teams to imagine their drone playing a key role in wildfire mitigation, focusing on flight precision and delivering simulated fire retardant (water bottles) to designated zones.

The competition consisted of two primary flight missions:

• Flight Mission 1 challenged teams to navigate a rapid waypoint course, testing agility and optional autonomous flight performance.
• Flight Mission 2 challenged teams to achieve precise payload drops, simulating retardant delivery with targets shrinking in size and increasing in difficulty along the way.

Adding a new layer this year, teams were also required to submit a business case in their Final Technical Report, connecting their drone design to realworld commercial or mission needs. It was a reminder that engineering alone is not enough — impact comes when design meets purpose.

Through the Wind and the Rain

Maryland’s weather added its own form of pressure. With wind gusts exceeding 20 mph (32 km/h) and rain rolling across the runway, aircraft were battered, and teams were tested. But perseverance defined the week. From emergency repairs to carefully calculated flight attempts, teams adapted in real time with determination and passion.

Results and Recognition

In addition, fun superlatives were also awarded for memorable moments from the fly-off. The University of Akron earned recognition for the “Most Impressive Reload” and North Carolina A&T, which earned an award for the “Most Spectacular Crash,” rallied to reenter the flight line and thus also earned the “Most Impressive Comeback.” The University of Maryland also impressed judges with their speed and won “Fastest FM-1 Lap,” while North Carolina State University and York College of Pennsylvania were both recognized for “Most Precise Crash Into a Waypoint.” Vaughn College boldly became the “First Brave Enough to Try Dropping at Waypoint 4” — the smallest and most difficult drop zone in Flight Mission 2 — while the University of Wisconsin–Madison earned “Most Precise Payload Drops.”

After many months of hard work, dedication and perseverance, the teams in the chart shown below earned top honors.

Closing Reflections

“This competition is about more than flight. It is about students learning to lead, to collaborate and to push through setbacks, and the teams did a fantastic job. This year focused on real-world applications, and the ingenuity on display was matched only by the sense of community that made it all possible,” said Adithya Ramaswami, chair of the VFS DBVF Student Competition.

The impact of these real-world use cases was highlighted by the competition’s community of sponsors and volunteers. For example, host sponsor SURVICE Engineering designs eVTOL platforms for transport, resupply, and tactical missions. Sponsor Azist, Inc. focuses on effective business strategy for public and private sector enterprises, while ParaWave builds automatic detection and notification software for drones in emergency response situations. For everyone involved, this competition was strongly tied to their respective missions in real-world applications.

“I am profoundly grateful to the volunteers, judges, sponsors and the incredible team at SURVICE Engineering who helped bring this event to life,” said Ramaswami. “Their efforts and the spirit of all the student teams are what make this competition such a powerful force in shaping the future generation of vertical flight. Many members of the VFS and DBVF community are already looking ahead with excitement to next year’s competition.”

VFS extends its sincere thanks to this year’s host sponsor, SURVICE Engineering, for providing access to its US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-authorized flight test facility and for its continued support of DBVF. Deep appreciation is also extended to Azist, Inc., DBVF’s Silver Sponsor this year, for their generous support. Additional gratitude is given to ParaWave’s co-founder and CTO, Jack Murray, for contributing incredible support throughout the competition as well as to the many members of the VFS and UAS community whose dedication makes this event possible year after year.

Next year’s DBVF request for proposals (RFP) will go live by this fall. For updates and more information, visit www.vtol.org/fly.

An album of photos from the event taken by SURVICE Engineering is available in the VFS Vertical Flight Photo Gallery at https://gallery.vtol.org/album/mU9C