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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 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. Including a 3D printed airframe VTOL to map for urban fires, as well as a heavy-lift quadcopter designed to autonomously extinguish fires indoor and outdoor using a water gun. The AIAA technical team developed a fully carbon fiber fixed wing aircraft optimized for long range cargo flights and banner towing. While in parallel, the QADT research team 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 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 Aeromechanics, 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 and motivated 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 |
Aerospace School is vital to professionalism and has increased value to our members. As part of this professional development program, you will bring everything together to teach valuable skills, form meaningful connections, and set a precedence that will define the future of our development programs. Here, you will find passionate individuals ready to teach and hard-working individuals ready to learn.
As part of the Executive team, the Aero School Director is responsible for planning and executing the Aerospace School program, as well as forming long-lasting relationships with various stakeholders to help maintain the program in the future. The Director will work closely alongside the Professional Development, Flight Operations, and APSC 103 Managers while directly coordinating with the QADT Captains. You will have access to many resources and sufficient funding to help keep the projects afloat.
As Aero School Director your responsibilities will include:
- Communication: Maintain communication with sub team members, project groups, co-captains, and the Kingston RC Club.
- Scheduling: Track and maintain a schedule of important deadlines including workshop dates and project deliverables.
- Resources and Logistics: Organize resources required by the team managers to supplement scheduled workshops, flight tests, and APSC 103 projects. Also maintaining availability of team resources for 103 project groups including 3D printers, airframes and tools.
- Member Growth: As director of Aero school, it is your responsibility to provide our members with the “Aero” experience and make sure that they build skills in all elements of aerospace design so that they can leverage those skills for career development. This will include leading new initiatives like drone pilot school and resume level personal projects.
This list is not exhaustive; however, it should provide a general understanding of the Aero School director's position.
Interview Details
We do not consider your resume a deciding factor. We weigh it the least compared to your written application and interview.
DEADLINE TO APPLY: June 27th, 2026 (11:59 PM EST)
Interviews will occur online or in-person after the deadline. We are happy to provide accommodations for these interviews, so please 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!