Queen Mary University of London has returned to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Challenge for the first time in eight years, with its student team competing against 54 teams from 16 countries at BMFA Buckminster.

The Queen Mary Unmanned Aerial Systems (QMUAS) team designed and built a 2.8 m wingspan fixed-wing aircraft for this year's challenge, which required teams to develop an autonomous platform capable of delivering water for a simulated agricultural mission while navigating a geo-fenced waypoint course.

Over the academic year, teams were assessed through a series of technical submissions covering all stages of aircraft development. The aircraft featured a composite carbon-fibre airframe manufactured in-house using 3D-printed moulds, alongside a 3D-printed water tank and electric propulsion system. The design was validated using computational fluid dynamics and mission simulations with X-Plane and ArduPilot software.

At the competition, the aircraft successfully passed safety scrutineering and reached the flight line. However, high winds on the day prevented a successful take-off.

Team Lead Allegra Celesia said the competition was a valuable learning experience and highlighted the potential for this team in the future. Head of Propulsion and incoming Team Lead Imen Ouared described passing scrutineering as a significant achievement and said the team would build on the experience for next year's competition.

Supervised by and supported by academics and technical staff, QMUAS received sponsorship from Airtech, Filamentive, Easy Composites, RS Components and Bitrez. The team is already preparing for the 2027 season, having recently secured additional sponsorship from Leybold.