Design, Build, Fly at the University of Washington

04/23/2026

2nd Place🥈globally! UW DBF has achieved its highest placement ever and their second podium finish! ⚡️⚡️

This year’s performance is a direct reflection of the hard work, dedication, and passion the entire team poured into the UW-26 MAKO. However, team is still not done and hungry for more going into next year’s competition. 🔥

Thanks you to all of our sponsors, donors, and supporters for an amazing year! 🎉🎊

11/03/2025

Design proposal submitted! 🔥✈️

The team is well on its way to a very successful year and the quality of our design report is indicative of that! 🔥

10/15/2025

10/14/2025

This year, UW DBF is tasked with a unique challenge of towing a large banner behind our aircraft. On October 14, our engineers conducted a very unique series of tests with the goal of determining the optimal banner setup for this year’s mission set. With a newly designed thrust stand and an unconventional, but effective test plan, the team got plenty of data and is well on its way towards a successful competition season! ✈️✈️✈️

08/16/2025

Interested in aircraft design and want to join a team of passionate, tight-knit engineers? If so, the UW Design Build Fly team is opening up rolling applications! ✈️✈️

Scan the QR code for the application form.

05/25/2025

Today, we celebrated the team’s accomplishments and growth throughout the year with a fun party at Marymoor RC club! There, we celebrated our graduating seniors for their hard work and dedication over the years and wished them luck in their future endeavors!

To send off the year, the team pushed the UW-25 Stingray with acrobatic maneuvers and speedy low passes, demonstrating the powerful and diverse flight capabilities of a plane the team worked so hard to design and build. ✈️💨💨

05/14/2025

On May 9, the UW DBF team had an incredible opportunity to take an in-depth tour of the inner workings of Stoke Space. ✈️

From unique, fully reusable rockets to innovative engine development, we got a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how Stoke Space is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with space flight! 🚀🚀

Huge thanks to the Stoke team for hosting us and delivering a fantastic tour!

05/06/2025

Celebrating 2 years of friendship with .suave! Congratulations on your placement in the top 10 🎉. We are so proud of you guys!

05/06/2025

Sending off a great season building and flying a plane each member of the team is proud of! ✈️We are more ready than ever to come back next year stronger than ever before! 💪

Thanks to all of our sponsors and donors for making this a great year of learning and fun!