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Four students from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University have been awarded the 2020 Vertical Flight Foundation scholarships from the Vertical Flight Society (formerly American Helicopter Society). The students won the merit-based scholarships for their cutting-edge research in vertical flight technology.

Bochan Lee received the Barry J. Baskett Scholarship in the doctoral degree category for his research on novel methods for autonomous helicopter ship landing. Farid Saemi, winner in the master’s degree category, received the Tom Wood Honorary Scholarship for his research on electric powertrain design frameworks for unmanned aircraft systems. Grant Erickson won the Geoff Byham Scholarship in the bachelor’s degree category for his research on tail-sitter unmanned aerial vehicles. Grant McCurdy, also a winner in the bachelor’s degree category, won the Bob Lynn Memorial Scholarship for his research on tube-launched micro air vehicles. 

The students work in the Advanced Vertical Flight Laboratory under the guidance of Dr. Moble Benedict, associate professor in aerospace engineering. This is the sixth year in a row that Advanced Vertical Flight students have won scholarships sponsored by the global Vertical Flight Society. Past winners include: David Coleman (two-time winner), Joel White, Atanu Halder, James McElreath, Kanika Gakhar, Adam Kellen and Brett Himmelberg.