A conference that recognizes the achievements of aerospace engineering students across the Midwest called Iowa State home for the first time in 15 years.

The conference, which is hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), hasn’t taken place at Iowa State in so long because the AIAA student chapter on campus had been dissipated.

After months of revamping the club, the leadership was excited and proud to have the conference back at Iowa State.

The conference has a six-year rotation period, and every six years it comes to Iowa, said Nathan Hemming, former ISU AIAA president and current student adviser.

“When it came up again, we negotiated with [the] University of Iowa to have it be here,” Hemming said “Since [the conference] was there last time, it made sense to alternate back and forth”

The conference took place Thursday and Friday in the Scheman Building. Students submitted a paper of their research online, then came to Iowa State to present their research and answer questions.

The number of students who presented at the conference is the highest it’s ever been at Iowa State, Hemming said.

The judges then announce the winners in each category, which includes undergraduate, masters, team and community outreach.

Layne Droppers, president of Iowa State’s AIAA, said all winners received a monetary prize, but the first-place winner from each category got a free trip to AIAA’s SciTech Conference in January and received the opportunity to have their research published in AIAA’s journals.

“It really puts students and their technical work in front of professional members of the AIAA,” Droppers said. “Presenting is great as far as sharing your ideas, sharing your work, getting your point across, and being able to explain why what you’re doing is relevant.”

The schools that participated were Iowa State University, Saint Louis University, the United States Air Force Academy, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Kansas, the University of Minnesota, the University of Missouri, Washington University and Wichita State University.

The students had the chance to tour campus while at Iowa State. Droppers said the people who received tours got to see the center for nondestructive evaluation, the wind simulator and VRAC.

Exposing these students to what Iowa State has to offer during this conference was also one of the main goals of the ISU AIAA chapter.

“It showcases the rejuvenation of the department,” Hemming said. “I think this highlights that and shows … the growing abilities of the aerospace engineering department as well at Iowa State.”

Highlighting the abilities of the aerospace department is exactly what happened. Iowa State received first and second place in the Masters category and third in the Team category.

Iowa State’s AIAA chapter would like to thank the Iowa Space Grant Consortium, ISU Engineering Student Council, AIAA National Headquarters, Spirit AeroSystems and Textron Aviation for their sponsorship.