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AI-enabled safety glasses designed by a group of Ģ����ý engineering students so impressed judges at a NASA contest that State students repeated as champions at the Gateways to Blue Skies competition at Langley Ģ����ý Center, Hampton, Virginia.

The glasses are designed to assist aircraft mechanics, but they could be applied to virtually any field. The system captures images of maintenance tasks, listens to the mechanic during the repair process, and automatically generates a complete maintenance report that becomes part of the aircraft’s service record.

The SDSU team dubbed Wingman was one of eight teams selected to compete in the NASA contest finals May 18-19 at the NASA facility.

Two other SDSU teams were among the finalists, and SDSU was the only school to have multiple entries in the fifth annual contest.

All team members are seniors with hometowns in Minnesota: Owen Diede, Shakopee; Christian Lee, Sauk Rapids; Anders Olsen, Elk River; and Matthew Wieberdink, Alexandria, who is a physics major with a biomedical engineering minor. The others are mechanical engineering majors.

The adviser for all three SDSU teams is Todd Letcher, an associate professor in mechanical engineering.

He called contest results “a tremendous honor and a reflection of the hard work, creativity and dedication of the student team.” He also described the achievement as “another exciting milestone for the university and a reminder that, even though Ģ����ý is not located near a NASA center, our students and faculty are demonstrating that engineering innovation at SDSU can compete on a national stage.”

’26 theme: aircraft maintenance

A wingman is defined as the pilot of a secondary aircraft providing support or protection to a primary aircraft. The students thought the word was an apt description for their product as well as their senior design project. The judges’ announcement on May 19 culminates efforts that began with the start of school in late August.

All the team members have an interest in aerospace and NASA and said the Blue Skies project would give them the most freedom in choosing a project.

Gateways to Blue Skies always has an aviation theme. This year’s contest theme was RepAir: Advancing Aircraft Maintenance. Before the SDSU students went to work on their project, they interviewed more than 20 industry professionals. 

“Lots of people that we talked to said they loved their job, and we wanted to find a way to make their job easier,” Lee said. “We found out what the issues were first and then thought of various solutions.”

Short walk to implement Wingman

Diede said based on their research, the AI-enabled glasses can make documentation 40% quicker, speed the accessing of information by 30% and provide more time for mechanics to do mechanical work instead of paperwork.

Olsen said judges were impressed by “how available it (Wingman) was to implement as opposed to something that was so far-fetched. They were also impressed by how much of the industry it impacted. The judges were impressed that we looked at a lot of the documentation work that is required.”

Students also noted during their 45-minute presentation on May 19 that the technology associated with Wingman could be used in a wide range of fields. The forum was judged by subject matter experts from NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the commercial airline industry, including representatives from Southwest Airlines and American Airlines.

Wieberdink said, “The judges really wanted every team to not just solve one niche issue. They want to see innovation stacked on innovation.”

Patent process has begun

The students were confident they had a winning project even before heading to Langley. They also believe they may have a profitable idea. An invention disclosure was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a precursor to obtaining a provisional patent. SDSU’s Ģ����ý and Economic Development Office is handling the paperwork, but the students and Letcher are listed as inventors.

Should the students’ calculations be correct, there is good reason to file for patent protection.

In their presentation, they stated that Wingman’s per-unit cost would be $2,500, “but a single wingman generates $61,000 in earnings through reduced hours spent by mechanic on paperwork and improved reporting accuracy. Its payback period is 15 days,” Diede told an obviously impressed panel of judges.

Wieberdink said, “In making the announcement, the judges said we checked every box.”

Preparation showed during presentation

NASA does not release a scoring breakdown or total points for any team. However, 45% of the evaluation is based on the teams’ technical paper with 35% on the oral presentation and 20% on its infographic. Students need to have a product or idea that could be in operation by 2035.

“I think we all felt we presented as well as we could have done. We felt good about technical paper and infographic. There wasn’t anything left on the table,” Olsen said.

Letcher added “Throughout the year, this team has performed at an extremely high level. We work hard year-round so that when opportunities like this arise, we are excited to share our work rather than nervous about presenting it. The team presented themselves like seasoned professional engineers and their preparation, professionalism and hard work were clearly evident.”

With white shirts, ties and sports coats, the May graduates looked like business executives, but during their 25-minute PowerPoint presentation and during the 20 minutes of judges’ questioning, the collegians seemed as relaxed as if they were speaking with classmates.

“We ran through that presentation at least 10 times. We practiced as a group. We practiced individually,” Wieberdink said. Olsen added, “We knew the content very well, but presenting before a group of experts like that, there are still some nerves, but you try not to show it.”

Wingman selling points

Among the selling points of the voice-activated Wingman:

• It uses hardware and open-source software already in use in other industries.

• Because it doesn’t require Wi-Fi or internet, there is not an issue with interfering with the airplane’s electronics.

• From inception to documented report, the mechanic never has to take his hands off his work.

• Reporting formats could be customized by individual airlines. “We’re providing them a tool, not a service,” Wieberdink said.

Should students continue the commercialization process, the next step would be development of a prototype. A working pair of Wingman glasses doesn’t currently exist. “It would be really helpful to test all the research we did,” Wieberdink said.

NASA internships available for winners

With a bachelor’s degree in their pockets, the students already have plans for the fall. Diede and Wieberdink will pursue a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from SDSU and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, respectively. Olsen has a job awaiting at Evapco in Iowa. Lee is undecided.

By winning Blue Skies, team members have the opportunity to intern during the 2026-27 academic year at one of NASA’s four aeronautics research centers — Langley, Glenn Ģ����ý Center in Cleveland, Ames Ģ����ý Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and Armstrong Flight Ģ����ý Center in Edwards, California. 

Diede and Wieberdink planned to take their internship next summer so as not to interfere with their master’s studies. 

Lee hasn’t decided which center to take his internship, but he added, “I plan to work really hard and then hope to stay with NASA.”

Also competing for SDSU

SDSU’s two other entries were SPARK and SPIDER.

• SPIDER (Surveying Platform and Inspection Device for Enclosed Regions) received the Safety Spotlight award at the finals. 

It’s a crawling, inspection robot designed to operate inside aircraft fuel tanks. Fuel tank access openings are extremely small, and inspections typically require the smallest mechanics to enter after extensive venting to remove fumes. SPIDER would perform these inspections faster and far more safely while navigating a highly regulated and safety-critical area of the aircraft.

• SPARK (Surface Preservation and Rust Killer Crawler) is a suction cup-based crawling robot that attaches to the exterior of the aircraft to perform close-up inspections and minor corrosion repairs. The system includes a camera, a robotic arm with a grinder and aerosol spray systems to treat corrosion when it is detected. It would operate in tandem with an observation drone.

Team members and their hometowns (all are mechanical engineering majors):

SPIDER: Mckenna DuFrene, Owatonna, Minnesota; Charlie Hartman, Hutchinson, Minnesota; Jon Rames, Sioux Falls; and Madyson Wantoch, Sioux Falls; all are seniors.

SPARK: Alexis Smith, Madison, Wisconsin; Meloray Linderer, Liberty, Missouri; Teyla Hanson, Blaine, Minnesota; and Noah Richardson, Omaha, Nebraska; all sophomores; and John Worth, freshman, Woodbury, Minnesota.