The University of Akron’s Zips Drone Design Team earned a second-place finish at the Design-Build-Vertical Flight Competition hosted by the Vertical Flight Society, held April 7-10 in Churchville, Md. The international event featured 16 participating teams, with 13 advancing to the final fly-off round.

The result continues the team’s strong international performance following its second-place debut at the same competition in its first year of participation. Competing against major programs and institutions from across the U.S. and around the world, the Zips have quickly established themselves as a consistent top-tier contender in advanced autonomous flight design.

This year’s competition challenged teams to design and operate fully autonomous vertical flight aircraft capable of picking up and transporting payload bundles made of 0.5-pound sandbags, up to five at a time. The mission simulated real-world applications such as wildfire suppression and emergency supply delivery, requiring drones to autonomously navigate to waypoints and accurately release payloads into 7-by-7-foot and 3-by-3-foot targets.

The Zips Drone Design Team entered the competition cycle with a custom electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft concept developed over several months beginning in June 2025. After a series of setbacks and a final crash approximately one and a half weeks before the competition, the team pivoted to a redesigned six-rotor (hex-rotor) platform based on its previous year’s aircraft. In under three days, the team repurposed the drone, integrating a revised payload system, updated sensors and modified electronics before completing flight testing and autonomous programming ahead of the event.

The team successfully passed technical inspection and submitted required design documentation and flight validation materials to qualify for competition. Despite the rapid redesign timeline, the Zips delivered a strong autonomous performance that secured a second-place overall finish.

“This competition is always a great opportunity to see how different teams can come up with different solutions to the same problem, all in an encouraging and innovative environment,” said Nick Schafer, a student majoring in electrical engineering and engagement and marketing lead for the team. “We believe our second-place finish is a result of the fundamentals: a simple payload system paired to a robust and proven drone design.”

Dr. Manigandan Kannan, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and faculty advisor for the team, credited the program’s success to its academic foundation at The University of Akron and the way students are trained to translate theory into practice. “Our engineering curriculum emphasizes hands-on design, systems integration, rapid prototyping and iterative testing,” Kannan said. “Students apply classroom learning directly to complex, real-world aerospace and autonomous systems challenges, which prepares them to compete on the same stage as leading national and international engineering programs.”

The Zips Drone Design Team is led by Matthew Miklos, a student majoring in mechanical engineering who serves as co-founder, president and lead mechanical engineer, and Walker Romshak, a student majoring in electrical engineering who serves as vice president, lead electrical engineer and pilot. Additional leadership includes CJ Porter, a student majoring in mechanical engineering and treasurer and internal projects manager, and Schafer.

Team members include Emmanual Emmanual, a student majoring in mechanical engineering; Benjamin Bewley, a student majoring in aerospace systems engineering; Nathan Cooper, a student majoring in electrical engineering; Jonathan Donley, a student majoring in electrical engineering; Raef Monroe, a student majoring in mechanical engineering; Zyler Newsom, a student majoring in electrical engineering; Jason Secora, a student majoring in mechanical engineering; and Danny Zadow, a student majoring in mechanical engineering.

The team additionally thanks Eric Pfiffner, senior engineering technician in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and technical advisor, for his support of the team’s development and testing efforts. The College of Engineering and Polymer Science and its industry partners are also recognized for their continued support of student design initiatives.

Looking ahead, the team is preparing for next year’s competition cycle through a new internal design effort known as Project Antigravity, focused on advancing vertical flight systems and autonomous capabilities. Additional initiatives include a high-speed first person view (FPV) drone project, development of an open-source mobile ground control station for flight testing and in-house printed circuit board (PCB) design work to further customize onboard electronics systems.

The Zips Drone Design Team continues to expand student engagement and outreach efforts across campus. The team is open to students of all majors and experience levels. For more details and information, contact zipsdrone@uakron.edu.