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Captain’s Message The aerospace industry is among the fastest-growing industries worldwide. In 2025, the market size was estimated at 402.75 billion USD and is projected to double by 2034.

At Queen’s Aerospace Design Team (QADT), we are dedicated to pushing boundaries with the development of high performance & autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for national and international competitions in Canada, Europe, and the United States. With the continued growth in industry aerospace applications in recent years, QADT has seen an unparalleled expansion, and our dedicated team of more than 150 undergraduate students has not disappointed.

This year, the AEAC technical team developed 2 UAVs from the ground up to compete at the AEAC 2026 student competition hosted in Ottawa. This included a 3D printed vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone to map urban fires, as well as a heavy-lift quadcopter designed to autonomously extinguish fires using a water gun. While in parallel, the AIAA technical team developed a fully carbon fiber fixed wing aircraft optimized for long range cargo flights and banner towing.

Alongside the technical teams, the QADT research branch wrote two research papers for submission to the IMAV conference paper call and the VFS student design competition. Respectively, these papers focused on the application of compliant airfoils on efficiency gains in flight and the conversion of a tilt rotor aircraft to a hybrid electric engine to prove the feasibility of electrifying the aerospace industry!

QADT offers a unique opportunity for development and growth for students in any discipline, including gaining technical experience in aero-mechanics, Electrical, and Software,



and the opportunity to conduct research in a variety of unique fields, as well as the chance to gain experience in business and management. QADT is looking to continue its rapid growth and expansion by taking on like-minded individuals to not just continue the development of advanced drone technology but push the boundaries of what student teams are capable of.

We eagerly await your application.

‘Aviation is proof that given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.’

— Eddie Rickenbacker, WWI flying ace

Erin Payne

Mechatronics & Robotics Engineering ‘28

Purujit Kantiya

Mechatronics & Robotics Engineering ‘28

The Software sub team at QADT builds the systems that let our aircraft sense, decide, and fly autonomously. From low-level control code to flight software and simulation, the software sub team will work to build reliable software for our UAVs to compete in competitions across the globe. Whether you're into robotics, controls, computer vision, or just want to get hands-on experience shipping real-time software that flies, this is a team where you'll learn fast, work on hardware that actually leaves the ground, and be part of a tight-knit group that competes.

No prior aerospace experience needed, just curiosity, a willingness to learn, and enthusiasm for building things that work.

Last year the team developed a solution for the AEAC 2026 Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) competition.



The season focused on building out the drone’s autonomy and perception capabilities. The autonomy stack was built around a finite state machine logic driving the drone through the mission. While perception used a ZED camera and clustering algorithms to handle detecting objects in the environment. Laying the groundwork for this year’s competition.

As a member of the Software team, you will have the prospect to develop the internal system including but not limited to the navigation system hardware communication.

In addition, members will be attending weekly/biweekly meetings where the team will discuss the task they are working on alongside any challenges they have encountered. Tasks will be managed using GitHub, where members can update the status of their task (to-do, in progress, completed). After software development is completed, the team will test using simulation software and test using the physical drone to replicate the competition.

A member of the Software team can expect to gain skills in the areas of:

- Version Control (Git)
- Robot Operating System (ROS)
- Linux
- Drone Autonomy
- Drone Perception (Computer Vision)
- Drone Testing Simulation (PX4)

Application & Interview Details

We do not look at your resume as a deciding factor. We weigh it the least compared to your written application and interview.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: September 19th, 2026 (11:59 PM EST)

Interviews will occur online after the deadline. We are happy to provide accommodation for these interviews, so please reach out to us and let us know how we can make the process more accessible for you!

Contact Information

Please email any questions or concerns to aero @engsoc.queensu.ca or text @queensaero on Instagram!

📌 Queen's Aerospace Design Team (QADT) - Software Team Member (Canada)
🏢 EngSoc
📍 Canada