UC Students Showcase Prestigious CITRIS Aviation Prize Projects
The UC Santa Cruz team presents their 2024–25 CITRIS Aviation Prize proposal. Photo by Eric Guerrieri/CITRIS and the Banatao Institute.
Students from several UC’s including the University of California, Santa Cruz played a pivotal role in the 2024–25 CITRIS Aviation Prize, a competition challenging UC students to design a groundbreaking intercampus air transportation system. The UCSC team, comprising Alexander Aghili, Andre Aledia, Zoë La Clair, Christine Perez, and Eric Vin, advised by Assistant Professor Daniel Fremont, demonstrated exceptional innovation in developing critical aviation simulation software and operational plans for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.
The CITRIS Aviation Prize, organized by CITRIS Aviation, a research initiative of UC’s Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), aims to lay the groundwork for a first-of-its-kind air transportation system connecting the four CITRIS campuses: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Merced, and UC Santa Cruz. This year's competition, building on previous conceptual designs, required students to create guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) algorithms and comprehensive rollout plans for the proposed system.
"It’s not just a technical puzzle," said Ricardo Sanfelice, CITRIS Aviation Director and chair of the UC Santa Cruz Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "It’s a multidisciplinary test bed spanning control, communications, autonomy and policy. This kind of integrated thinking is exactly what we need to shape the future of advanced air mobility."
The UCSC team, consisting of four undergraduates and one doctoral student, tied with UC Merced to split the $3,000 CITRIS Aviation Excellence Award. Their work showcased a deep understanding of optimizing energy usage and ensuring safe operations, all while prioritizing seamless integration with existing ground transportation.
Alex Aghili, a mathematics and computer science undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz, highlighted the invaluable skills gained, stating, “After doing a lot of technical work, you have to discover the narrative that informs your next steps, and that’s a very important skill we were able to develop.”
The competition fostered collaboration with industry leaders, including NASA’s Ames Research Center, Atech, DART, Archer Aviation, Supernal, and MathWorks, who sponsored awards and served as judges. This experience provided students with unique insights into the challenges and opportunities of advanced air mobility, preparing them to become future leaders in the field.
Learn more about the winners and read the full recap here: https://citris-uc.org/from-concept-to-cockpit-citris-aviation-prize-winners-in-action/
