Glider design, analysis, and optimization competition. Calculated optimal wing geometry, tail configuration, ballast placement, and center of gravity from first principles in Excel. Built the design and competed.
The win came not from the airframe — but from identifying a launch technique optimization that every other competing team had missed entirely.
Every other team optimized the airframe. The standard approach — refine wing geometry, tune ballast, adjust tail — was well understood. The results were predictably clustered.
The spin-release method was derived from external research outside the course materials. Applied at launch, it increased flight distance by 178% compared to a standard release — enough to win 1st place despite flying a non-optimal airframe.
The lesson: the highest-leverage variable is rarely the obvious one. Finding it requires looking in places the competition hasn't.