We are looking for interested Aerospace Engineering students who would like to participate in this exciting art project of Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno.

Flying Plaza is an idea of Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno: a floating square that lifts people up in the air by means of aerodynamic forces. The innovative concept is essentially based on kite technology and addresses new ways of thinking about inventive land use and the construction of future landscapes. Flying Plaza will be the first chapter of a science fiction scenario: an artistic vision upon future expansion of The Netherlands; from moving further onto the sea to moving upwards into the sky.

We are looking for 2-3 MSc students with engineering focus who would like be part of our project team, working in close collaboration with the artist Tomas Saraceno to design, develop, build and finally launch the Flying Plaza. Commissioned by the harbour of Rotterdam, a kick-off workshop for this project is planned for June 2012 bringing together students and artist. Unmanned functional prototypes will be used to explore feasibility of various designs. Next to a second workshop, expert meetings with several professionals from the field will be scheduled. The final project goal is to build the Flying Plaza for a payload of a few persons. The demonstration launch should take place in June 2013.

Tasks

Students are expected to be proactive and take a leading role in the following aspects of the project:

• Literature research on reference projects.
• Analyse safety considerations and regulations.
• Feasibility assessments for Flying Plaza concepts and selection of best one for further development. In this phase, existing design proposals of the artist have to be assessed as well as own designs.
• Finalise design for Flying Plaza.
• Study location and weather conditions at the deployment site, the Maasvlakte 2
• Research materials, suppliers and producers
• Develop minimal two prototypes (a small one without people to be tested in September 2012 and a large one to be launched with a few people on it in June 2013)

Requirements

Students should have a background in at least one of the fields listed below:

• Aerodynamics / wind energy
• Light-weight structures
• Architectural engineering

Starting date

ASAP

Contact

The project will be supervised by the kite power research group and the aerodynamics group of the Faculty of Aerospace ENgineering of Delft University of Technology

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , head of kite power research group
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , head of wind tunnel laboratories

Download the assignment from here.