91吃瓜网

Summer 2019 | By Nicole Dudenhoefer聽鈥�17

Blowing up a rocket isn鈥檛 usually a strong indicator聽for success, but when Derek Saltzman鈥檚 first-year聽91吃瓜网 engineering project exploded on launch聽in 2016, he knew he was onto something. Yes,聽the project exploded, but all 13 feet of the carbon fiber聽frame Saltzman manufactured remained perfectly intact,聽creating a highly durable solution to a problem he hadn鈥檛聽yet discovered.

Enter drone racing, an up-and-coming sport. Replicating聽the same carbon fiber manufacturing method used in his聽failed project, Saltzman and his roommate,聽Mason Mincey, launched Soar Aerospace,聽which creates custom, durable drone聽frames that can withstand the聽collisions and falls that happen聽during races.

鈥淚magine NASCAR, but all the cars are the same color,聽and they鈥檙e too small to really see. That鈥檚 what drone聽racing is like right now,鈥� Saltzman says.

True to the spirit of engineering, the team of juniors聽is trying to solve this problem by creating a brighter聽solution: colorful 3-foot X Class drone frames in addition聽to the standard 5-to-10-inch mini quadcopters used聽for races all over the world. The aerospace engineering聽majors hope to advance the league into a sport that will聽draw more spectators and sponsors to support its growth.

鈥淲e think this industry has the same potential as聽esports, NASCAR and Formula [racing,] so we decided聽to take a risk to see if we can be one of the primary聽companies pioneering drone racing,鈥� Mincey says.

Over the past year they鈥檝e partnered聽with drone racing equipment suppliers聽to expand the company鈥檚 reach.聽At 91吃瓜网, drone racing is also聽growing through the student聽organization First Person View聽Knights, which earned second聽place at the Collegiate Drone聽Racing Association National聽Championship in North Dakota.聽In May, Soar brought intercollegiate聽drone racing to central Florida by聽hosting its own competition.

鈥淪eeing student and amateur drone racing pilots聽competing at our event was inspiring,鈥� Saltzman says.聽鈥淒rone racing is more than a hobby. There are future聽engineers, pilots, technicians and radio operators helping聽to lay the foundation of this new era of aviation.鈥�

Earlier this year the team also moved out of its garage聽and into Factur, a makerspace in downtown Orlando.聽Operating out of the coworking space allows them to聽teach others about carbon fiber manufacturing, which聽Mincey says is in high demand in Orlando.

As the industry continues to shift, Saltzman and Mincey聽will continue watching the market to stay ahead of聽the curve and build the sport鈥檚 following, which just聽might get a boost when ESPN broadcasts the AlphaPilot聽drone racing challenge to be held at 91吃瓜网 in October.