The EUROAVIA Design Contest (DeCo) is an open competition to all students in Europe interested in aerospace. The winners of this contest are invited to participate in the Design Workshop (DeWo), which lasts three weeks and is free of any charge to them. During the DeWo they will experience real-life work on a complex aerospace project in a truly European team.

To take part in the contest, you have to be a full-time undergraduate student in any institution of higher education in Europe. The winners of the contest get their chance to join the team of the DeWo.
You'll have to write an essay of 10 pages maximum about an aerospace topic of your choice and send it to the Deco/DeWo WG. However, an aerospace topic does not necessarily have to cover a technical subject; it can as well deal with economical, political, medical or social aspects.
A jury, composed of professionals from aerospace companies, professors from universities and research institutions, will anonymously evaluate the submitted papers. The jury evaluates not only the scientific level but also the way the topic is presented and discussed.
The 25 winners of the DeCo are invited to take part in the Design Workshop (DeWo).

The Design Workshop is hosted by an aerospace company or research institution. The host provides facilities, accomodation and tutors. It usually covers a sizable amount of the DeWo budget. Numerous additional sponsors make sure that the entire workshop, including transportation, is free of charge for the participants.
The DeWo brings together 25 highly motivated students from all over Europe, who will spend three weeks in an environment very similar to that of an engineering department in major aerospace companies. The typical problems that emerge in such an environment will have to be solved together, thus generating a better mutual understanding. The cultural enrichment that arises from working with persons from so many different nations is indeed remarkable.

Organizing a Design Contest and Design Workshop is a tremendous task. To handle this task, EUROAVIA regularly establishes an international Working Group, usually about 15 months before the DeWo is to start. This WG firstly needs to find a hosting company or institution and a suitable workshop topic. Then, companies, research instutions and universities must be approached for sponsoring, tutors and jurors. A promotional campain has to be prepared for the Design Contest and accomodation, transport, social activities during the workshop must be organized.
The DeCo/DeWo Working Group usually consists of five to six members from all over Europe. It takes a lot of time, but so far every EG member has found it to be a priceless experience.

+ Find out more about the DeCo / DeWo Working Group.

• DeWo 2007. Hosted by Rolls-Royce and the University of Sheffield. Divided into 2 groups of 15, the participants were challenged to design an 'Integrated power system for a more electrical UAV"
• DeWo 2006. Once again hosted by the European Space Agency, ESA and was held in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The 3 groups were to define their own mission for a UAV on Mars and do the preliminary design of this UAV.For more information, click here...
• DeWo 2005. Held in Milano, Italy as it was hosted by Augusta-Westland. The participants were asked to come up with the design of a heavy lift helicopter.
• DeWo 2004. It took place in August at the Manchester University and had the support from BAE.
• DeWo 2001. Hosted by Carlo Gavazzi Space, the DeWo participants designed a satellite.
• DeWo 1999. Hosted by British Aerospace, the goal was the preliminary design of a military trainer aircraft system. This included market analysis, aircraft design, operational parameters (maintainability, operability) and flight training program evaluation.
• DeWo 1997. Goal of the DeWo 1997 was the design of a low cost engine for a 50 to 70 seater regional aircraft. Two possible configurations, a turboprop and a turbofan, were evaluated. The workshop was hosted by the Rolls-Royce Aerospace Group and the University of Derby.
• DeWo 1995. During the 1995 DeWo at ESA / ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands the participants developed a preliminary design of a satellite, the Lunar Investigating Orbiting Navigator (LION). LION's was to find a suitable landing site for LEDA (Lunar European Demonstration Approach) on the Moon, map the lunar surface with a 4 m resolution and be an emergency relay for LEDA’s rover in case of a communications blackout.
• DeWo 1994. With a MTOW of 666 t, the BEAST (Big EUROAVIA Subsonic Transport) was the result of the 1994 DeWo at Aerospatiale, Toulouse. The task was to design a wide-body, heavy cargo aircraft with 200 t payload and 5000 NM range flying at Mach 0.82.
• DeWo 1992. The second Design Workshop was hosted by ESA / ESTEC, where the DeCo winners developed the preliminary design of an ecological monitoring satellite for the European ecosystem.
• DeWo 1991. The series of Design Workshops started with its edition in 1991 hosted by Dornier. The participants conducted a preliminary phase A study on the ULYSSES Reference Mission (URM), a small scientific satellite intended to complement the Ulysses space probe.