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Depends on which stage of the design cycle we’re in, but general members usually devote about 5 hours/week across meetings, events, and outside work.

Not at all! While most of the people in SSFE are majoring in aerospace engineering, there is nothing prohibiting non-aero majors from joining. In fact, around 30% of SSFE is made up of non-aero majors.

Yes, all members of SSFE are expected to pay $75 per academic year in dues. Members onboarding the Business team in the Spring will only pay $25 for that semester.

SSFE is involved in multiple promotional events throughout the year including AERO Open House, tabling outside of Zach, hosting SSFE Open House, profit shares. Members will be able to participate in these events and be eligible for our end-of-year Fly Day.

SSFE is not affiliated with any external competition organizations. Currently, we are internally driven to iteratively surpass our air speed records one aircraft at a time.

Although not necessary, applicants with at least a basic understanding of RC aircraft operation/functionality and knowledge in aerodynamic and/or structural design choices typical within RC aircraft stand out in the interview process.

SSFE is divided into 4 sub-teams: Aerodynamics, Structures, Avionics, and Business. Each team has its own unique job sets which can be found on our “Subteams” page. Applicants are able to apply and be considered for all teams during a recruitment cycle.

While each sub-team lends itself to specific skills, SSFE looks for applicants who demonstrate enthusiasm for a particular team(s) and show how they can apply classroom content to real world applications. Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact our team to learn more about how the organization or particular sub-teams operate.

Any personal RC experience is largely valued. SSFE uses multiple softwares including SolidWorks for CAD, XFLR5 and STAR CCM+ for CFD analysis, ANSYS Workbench for FEA, Python/Matlab/C++, and Altium. Familiarity with using hand tools is also valued for aircraft construction.

At a minimum, once a week. Once a week for your respective sub-team meeting and once every other week for the organization general meeting. Sometimes SSFE will meet more frequently during our construction phase such as on weekends.

Applications will be sent out at the beginning of the fall semester, and applicants will have two weeks to apply. The following week officers will assess all the applications and notify whether or not each applicant will be asked for an interview. An interview schedule will be sent out to the downselected pool of applicants to lock in their interview time the coming week. Interviews will take one week and final decisions will be made the week after. Applicants will be notified whether they’re invited to join, waitlisted, or rejected.

Members get to participate in the full extent of the engineering design cycle. SSFE strives to create an environment that mimics the framework of what is seen in industry. From defining our own set of requirements, conducting research, generating designs, performing simulations, constructing components for validation, performing system-level testing, members get a taste of many different sectors of the design cycle.

SSFE is unique in its approach to a design cycle. Due to not being an affiliated organization, we have one goal in mind: design an aircraft faster than the previous within regulatory, financial, and time constraints. This level of freedom allows for engineering creativity to flourish and provide our members a chance to make an impact in all stages of the engineering process.