By Lesley Larson
Micro Air Vehicles from across the country and around the world landed in Lehi for the 10th annual Micro Air Vehicle Competition, hosted by BYU.
Beginning at dawn near the base of the Oquirrh Mountains, the competition consisted of endurance, surveillance, ornithopter and design categories, which enticed universities from Korea, Florida, Arizona, New York and Pennsylvania.
In the last round of the ten hour competition, Troy Tegeder, a master''s student in mechanical engineering, controlled a nearly eight minute flight, securing a second place win for BYU.
However, eight-time champion, University of Florida, once again swept the competition. They took first place in endurance, surveillance, and the design essay portion, securing first place overall. But the team of eight said though they worked hard to prepare, it was a close call.
In fact the first, second and third place overall winners were separated by a matter of only three points.
'We pulled it off by the skin of our teeth,' said Scott Bowman, a University of Florida team member.
Mike Morton, another member of the Florida team, said because each university tackles design and implementation differently, there is much to be learned from each other.
'We say, ''Oh wow! Look at their gearbox! We''ve got to try that!''' he said. 'It''s really neat to see all the different ideas.'
Peter Ifju, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Florida, who accompanied the team, attributed the record of eight-straight Micro Air Vehicle wins to the dedicated students.
' It just shows that we''ve done a lot of hard work, and that we''ve consistently had a good group of students,' he said.
The University of Florida and University of Arizona have enjoyed more consistency within their teams than most of the teams who compete, said Jerry Bowman, associate professor of mechanical engineering and advisor to the BYU Micro Air Veghicle team. In comparison, other competing universities treat the competition as a senior project of sorts and experience total turnover each year, he said.
BYU''s Micro Air Vehicle team, which uses the competition as an engineering capstone project, took second place in the endurance category, third in ornithopter and fourth place overall. BYU team members echoed the experience disparity that often exists among competitors.
'Our biggest challenge is that there is no carry over from year to year,' said Jeff Hogge, a recent graduate in mechanical engineering, referring to students from the University of Florida who have been involved in the competition for four years.
However, no one is complaining about one of the more experienced competitors: John Moore, the high school prodigy from Dayton, Ohio. Moore has competed in the last four years of Micro Air Vehicle competitions, including last year''s conference in Korea.
Though only a senior in high school, Moore is no rookie. With 12 years of model airplane construction under his belt, he has more experience than most of the university-level competitors. This year, Moore alone triumphed over teams of university students to take second place in the design essay category.
Recently, Moore''s mini-planes won him first place in the Intel International Science Fair. However, his planes weren''t cooperating Saturday, he said, and he didn''t place in any of the other events.
Moore will begin college in the fall, and has accepted a scholarship from none other than the University of Florida, and plans to major in aeronautical engineering.
He said despite all the academic recognition he has received, he still mostly enjoys the recreation aspect of model planes.
'It''s my hobby,' he said. 'It''s cool to have a little toy to fly around the neighborhood.'