Texas A&M SAE Aero Design

What Texas A&M SAE Aero Design does

Texas A&M SAE Aero Design is a non-profit student-run aerospace engineering competition team based at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Founded in 2009 by a group of sophomore students, the organization designs, builds, and tests aircraft for the annual international SAE Aero Design competition held in Lakeland, Florida. The team competes in three classes: Regular Class (full-scale), Micro Class (compact), and Advanced Class (highest complexity, with autonomous systems capabilities), and structures itself as a professional engineering organization with subteams focused on Aerodynamics/Stability/Controls (ASC) and Structures/Materials Science (SMS).

Each competition cycle requires a 30-page technical design report, an oral presentation, and flight demonstrations. The team has achieved 1st place overall internationally in either or both the Regular and Micro classes for seven consecutive years, and as of 2026 places 1st Overall in Micro Class and 7th Overall in Advanced Class. The team is led by co-directors Malachi Drew and Dhruval Rangrej with faculty advisor Dr. John Valasek (AIAA Fellow) and pilot Scott McHarg, and has grown to over 80 members with more than 100 cumulative engineer alumni.

The organization operates as a non-commercial entity and generates no revenue from product sales. All operating funding comes from donations, sponsorships, and alumni/parent contributions channeled through the Texas A&M Foundation under Giving Account 955620. The team's economic function is the production of competition aircraft and the development of undergraduate engineering talent for placement into the aerospace industry, rather than the generation of financial returns.

Name

Texas A&M SAE Aero Design

Legal name

TAMU SAE Aero Design Team

Website

https://tamusaeaero.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Texas A&M SAE Aero Design is a non-profit student competition team at Texas A&M University that designs, builds, and tests aircraft for the international SAE Aero Design competition in Regular, Micro, and Advanced classes. Funding comes from donations and sponsorships, with outputs directed toward undergraduate aerospace engineering talent development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collegiate Aerospace Engineering Competition

NAICS

Aircraft Manufacturing (336411), Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing (33641), Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing (336413), Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511)

SIC

Aircraft (3721), Aircraft & Parts (3720), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Kits & Experimental Aircraft Manufacturing (IMABAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Training & Light Sport Fixed-Wing Aircraft Manufacturing (IMABAAAE), Avionics Software, Certification & Safety-Critical Systems (DO-178/DO-254) (IMABAFAK), Avionics Test, Simulation & Calibration Equipment (IMABAFAN)

Keywords

• Aerospace competition design
• Aircraft engineering team
• Collegiate aviation design
• Student engineering team
• Aircraft design competition

Headquarters

HQ city

College Station

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Sponsorships: The team relies on donations from partners, sponsors, parents, and alumni. Donations can be made via check (payable to TAMU SAE AERO Design Team) or online through Texas A&M Foundation (Account 955620).
2. Sponsorship Packages: Corporate sponsors can download team sponsorship packets and contact the organization directly for partnership arrangements to support annual competitions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Texas A&M SAE Aero Design is a collegiate student-run team that designs, builds, and tests aircraft for the international SAE Aero Design competition across three classes: Regular Class, Micro Class, and Advanced Class. The team produces accompanying 30-page technical design reports and oral presentations as judged deliverables, with subteams organized around Aerodynamics/Stability/Controls (ASC) and Structures/Materials Science (SMS), as well as autonomous systems integration for the Advanced Class.

Product overview

TAMU SAE Aero Design operates as a student competition organization offering aircraft design and engineering services through three distinct competition classes: Regular Class, Micro Class, and Advanced Class aircraft. The organization structures itself like a professional design team with subteams focusing on Aerodynamics/Stability/Controls (ASC), Structures and Materials Science (SMS), and Autonomous Systems (AS). The core offerings are the competition aircraft themselves, accompanied by supporting deliverables including 30-page technical design reports and oral presentations required for competition judging. The team has achieved remarkable success, winning 1st place overall internationally in Regular and Micro classes for 7 consecutive years at SAE Aero Competition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Regular Class Aircraft Full-scale aircraft designed, built, and flight-tested by the team for the SAE Aero Design Regular Class competition, accompanied by comprehensive 30-page technical design reports and oral presentations submitted to competition judges.
• Micro Class Aircraft Micro-scale aircraft designed and built by the team for the SAE Aero Design Micro Class competition, featuring compact design requirements and mission performance objectives. The team has earned 1st place overall internationally in the Micro Class.
• Advanced Class Aircraft Advanced aircraft designs for the SAE Aero Design Advanced Class competition, representing the highest complexity tier with autonomous systems capabilities. The team placed 7th Overall in Advanced Class at the 2026 SAE Aero Design East Competition.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7 consecutive years of 1st place overall internationally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Dr. John ValasekcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFaculty Advisor and Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University, directs Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory. Research focuses on autonomous systems, air vehicle control, and vision-based navigation. AIAA Fellow with leadership roles in FAA and NSF research centers.
• Scott McHargcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeam Pilot and Advisor with 33+ years of R/C flying experience, 30 years commercial/military flying, nearly 13,000 hours of mission time. Current focus on turbine jet aerobatics. Advisor for 5 years, pilot for 3 years, developmental pilot for 10 years.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Virginia Tech SAE Aero Design: Virginia Tech's collegiate aerospace design teams compete in SAE Aero Design with strong industry alumni ties similar to Texas A&M's program, making it a closely comparable peer in collegiate competition performance.
• Purdue SAE Aero Design: Purdue's SAE Aero Design team competes in the same international competition structure as Texas A&M, with similar subteam organization around aerodynamics, structures, and autonomy — a strong direct peer.
• Cal Poly SLO Aerospace Teams: Cal Poly's 'learn by doing' aerospace teams compete in SAE Aero Design with strong hands-on build culture, making them a comparable peer in operational approach and competition class focus.
• Georgia Tech SAE Aero Design: Georgia Tech runs a longstanding SAE Aero Design team that competes in the same Regular/Micro/Advanced classes with comparable engineering depth and university-backed resources, making it a natural direct competitor.
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Aerospace Teams: Embry-Riddle's aviation-focused student teams compete in SAE Aero Design and similar design competitions, with an aviation-specialist institutional focus that makes them a directly comparable peer in aircraft design competition.
• UC Berkeley Aerospace Teams: UC Berkeley's aerospace student teams compete in SAE Aero Design with comparable scale and engineering depth, positioning them as a directly comparable peer in collegiate fixed-wing aircraft competition.
• MIT Aero/Astro design teams: MIT's collegiate aerospace engineering design teams participate in SAE Aero Design and similar competitions, making them a directly comparable peer in scale, prestige, and competition focus within collegiate fixed-wing aircraft design.
• University of Michigan Aerospace Teams: Michigan's aerospace engineering teams participate in SAE Aero Design and adjacent design-build-fly competitions with comparable university resources, providing a directly comparable peer in collegiate aerospace competition.
• Stanford SAE Aero Design: Stanford's collegiate aero team competes in SAE Aero Design with comparable scale and graduate-school-adjacent research affiliations, making it a directly comparable peer in talent quality and competition results.

Emerging players

• AIAA Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Teams: AIAA's Design/Build/Fly competition is a parallel collegiate aircraft design competition with overlapping audience, talent, and skill set as SAE Aero Design — a thematic adjacent peer rather than direct head-to-head competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/tamusaeaero
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/texas-a-m-sae-aero-design-team

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Texas A&M SAE Aero Design