A team of UC Merced students and their adviser has entered the second phase of the 2024-25 CITRIS Aviation Prize design contest.
Students Yael Xavier Andujar, Monica Cruz Gaspar, Ana Hernandez, Kyra Ruiz, Randy Serrano and mechanical engineering Professor Francesco Danzi will compete against three other teams in the competition, which tasks the teams to develop air operations simulation software for a proposed air transportation system between the four CITRIS campuses. Last year's competition focused on the conceptual designs for the network.
"We are thrilled that the work of the teams will contribute to the advancement of air mobility and a particular instantiation, exploring flights between the CITRIS campuses at Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Merced and Davis," said Alexandre Bayen, director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), associate provost for the Berkeley Space Center, and Liao-Cho Innovation Endowed Chair and professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences and of civil and environmental engineering at UC Berkeley.
The competition culminates in late spring , when the teams present their final designs to a panel of judges from CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, the NASA Ames Research Center, and sponsoring companies and organizations. The winning presentations will be assessed on innovation, environmental impact and integration with existing transportation systems.
A full story on phase two of the competition is available here. To learn more about the competition and stay updated on the teams' progress, visit the CITRIS Aviation Prize webpage .
