2025 SOAR Into STEM Spring Session 3: Aeronautical Engineering and Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles

By Carmelo Turdo

High school students from the St. Louis area and neighboring counties participated in the third of four spring sessions of the Wings of Hope SOAR Into STEM Program on Saturday. SOAR Into STEM provides opportunities to apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills in the context of the Wings of Hope humanitarian aviation mission. Topics covered include Airplane Basics, Mechanics and Engineering, Navigation and Communication and Drone/Flight Opportunities.

In Session 3, led by Wings of Hope Education Programs Manager Lee Ann Nolte and a team of volunteer mentors, the students were introduced to a systematic approach to aircraft design through a series of activities. An outstanding presentation provided by a Boeing Company engineer transformed theory into practice by using a current jet fighter program as an example of engineering and production excellence right here in St. Louis. 

The session began with a review of the Navigation and Communication concepts covered in the previous session, including the essential knowledge of the U.S. Airspace System and proper communication methods used between aircraft and Air Traffic Control. Also, Wings of Hope volunteer mentor David Harrington briefed the students on the upcoming EAA Young Eagles flights and gave out the registration paperwork. The students will fly in general aviation aircraft during the Career Fair/Young Eagles Flight day on May 3.

The main activity on the Aeronautical Engineering topic was the installation of an electrical system on a foam aircraft cutout. One objective was to mount a circuit to the aircraft so that two electric motors would run their propellers powered by a battery pack with a switch. Another objective was to add a circuit running navigation lights on the wingtips and tail controlled by a second switch off the same battery pack. Student teams worked on this project throughout the session.

The session's guest speaker was Roland Diaz, F-15 Lead System Safety Engineer at the Boeing Company in St. Louis. His education and work experience include a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University and internship and co-op job opportunities in the aerospace field before becoming a full-time Reliability and Maintainability Engineer and now Safety Engineer at Boeing. He is primarily assigned to the F-15 variants produced and supported by Boeing, and occasionally applies his talents to the T-7 Red Hawk and other Boeing military products. Safety Engineering is relevant to the development of aircraft, their components, weapons and support assets that may affect operation under all known environments. 

Diaz described the evolution of aviation system safety with several illustrations, including one chart showing the progression from the trial and error of the Wright Brothers to component analysis, fault-tree analysis and the current modeling methods that incorporate engineering and testing data from around the world. The emphasis of safety engineering is primarily employed in the development side of a system (aircraft) - identifying and reducing acceptable risk - but safety engineering may also be used to develop a solution when a part of the aircraft fails to perform as expected in service.

The students learned to operate the Tello app-based, camera-equipped quadcopters to demonstrate the flight characteristics of most small uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). Once internet communication with the UAVs was established, a buzzing swarm took to the air. After a little practice, most of the students were landing the quadcopters in their hands and maneuvering through the hoops of an obstacle course.

Session 3 concluded with a student breakout session with their volunteer mentors. Topics of discussion within the groups included a review of current and past session material as well as education and career opportunities available to the students now and in the future. Students rotate among the mentors each session, creating a dynamic atmosphere of creative thinking and appreciation for the contributions of each participant.

SOAR Into STEM will continue this Saturday with Session 4, followed by Discovery Flight/ Career Fair Day. The Aero Experience thanks Wings of Hope and everyone who contributed to another great SOAR Into STEM session.