A flight computer for a 3D-printed oblique-wing aircraft

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Kevin Shen · Olympia, Washington
Seventh Place ($70,000) · Regeneron Science Talent Search · 2025

Abstract

A flight control computer for a 3D-printed oblique-wing aircraft — an asymmetric configuration that is aerodynamically efficient but difficult to fly without active control.

What they found

The result, in the terms the project itself reported it.

Reported a 9.2% improvement in flight efficiency.

Why it worked

ResearchForge's reading of the public record — not the students' words, and not the judges' reasoning.

The airframe concept is decades old and was held back by controllability. Building the controller rather than the airframe identifies which half of the problem was actually unsolved.

Key methods

Flight computer design
Control law development for an asymmetric wing
3D-printed airframe fabrication
Flight efficiency measurement

What to take from this

ResearchForge's reading of the public record — not the students' words, and not the judges' reasoning. Borrow the habits and decisions, never the project itself.

When an old idea never shipped, find out which part blocked it and work on that part
Control-systems work needs a flying baseline to measure the improvement against

Archive entries are summaries compiled for study. Read them for how a project was structured, argued, and defended — not as a template to reproduce. Copying someone else's project is the one thing that will end yours.

Compiled by ResearchForge from the Society for Science public award announcement linked on this record. Names, hometowns, project titles and reported results are as published. The "why it worked" and "what to take from this" notes are ResearchForge's editorial reading of that public record — they are not statements by the students and not the judges' rationale. All rights to the original projects remain with their authors; no project materials are rehosted here.