Recently, a team composed of Department of Mechanical Engineering students Kaan Aykol, Cengizhan Demirbaş, Ufuk Dirmencioğlu, Uzay Can Duman, Doruk Erdeğirmenci, Sanem Ildız, Elif Özçelik, Emrehan Yavuz and Ethem Yılmaz, who called themselves “SkyWorks,” represented Bilkent University at the third TÜBİTAK International Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Competition. The event, organized by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), took place September 16–19 in İstanbul.
The team won an honorable mention award in the fixed wing category with their fully autonomous mission-maker aerial vehicle, which incorporated a long-range wireless communication feature.
Aiming to raise awareness about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the TÜBİTAK UAV competition helps participants acquire technical and social experience by contributing to technological advances in the field. This year, 117 teams participated in the competition.