Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State student engineering team again is among top finishers navigating an unmanned radio-controllable aircraft system in a simulated combat zone.
Operating under the name Team Xipiter, the 10-person university group finished second among 22 institutions in the recent 2010 Student Unmanned Air System competition. The MSU team's latest achievement is a third consecutive top-five finish.
Sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the competition took place last week at Webster Field in Patuxent River, Md.
With more than 1,400 member companies and organizations in 50 countries, AUVSI is considered the world's largest non-profit organization devoted exclusively to advancing the unmanned systems community. With offices located in Arlington, Va., the organization represents professionals in government, industry and academia.
The competition is designed to stimulate and foster interest in unmanned aircraft, technologies and careers by engaging students in challenging missions. Participants must identify 10 targets on a mission similar to what might be encountered by a military strike team seeking strategic targets for attack.
This year's winning MSU student team includes (by hometown):
ARLINGTON, Tenn.--Junior aerospace engineering major Benjamin E. "Ben" Nesbit, son of Michael and Nancy Nesbit.
CALEDONIA--Sophomore aerospace engineering major Jared E. Gates, son of Dennis and Shelley Gates.
COLLIERVILLE, Tenn.--Sophomore aerospace engineering major Anthony J. Favaloro, son of Ronald and Deborah Favaloro.
GERMANTOWN, Tenn.--Christopher D. Edwards, the son of Conan and Pamela Edwards. Before receiving a master's degree in electrical engineering in May, he graduated, summa cum laude, from MSU's Bagley College of Engineering in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in the same major.
GULFPORT--Sophomore computer science major Jeffrey J. Morris, son of Lynna Morris of Gulfport and Christopher Morris of Arlington, Texas.
KOSCIUSKO--Senior computer science major Matthew M. Campassi, son of Virginia Carlisle.
MERIDIAN--Freshman aerospace engineering major Alexander C. "Alex" Smith, son of Robert and Annie Smith.
OCEAN SPRINGS--Sophomore aerospace engineering major Austin T. Powell, son of Terry and Medin Powell.
SLIDELL, La.--Senior computer engineering major Rebecca L. Owens, the daughter of William and Theresa Owens.
STERLINGTON, La.--Junior aerospace engineering major Eric A. Hill, the son of Dr. Ronald and Shelley Hill.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.