The KRONE Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Club, affiliated with our university's Department of Mechanical Engineering, has achieved remarkable success this year by winning a total of six awards.

Comprising five teams – Fixed-Wing Teams 1 and 2, Rotorcraft Team 1, and UAM Teams 1 and 2 – KRONE participated in competitions including the National University Student Model Aircraft Integrated Competition, the GNU Dassault Systèmes Korea CATIA Design Report Competition, the 2025 National University Student UAM Olympiad, and the National University Student Capstone Competition. Each competition pits university teams from across the nation against one another through academic and flight evaluations, assessing the creativity of aircraft design, the sophistication of manufacturing techniques, and mission execution capabilities.

Fixed-Wing Team 1 (Jung Woo Jin, Park Seong Wook, Shin Tae Seop, Kim Yeon Hee, Maeng Jeong Yeon, Jin Byeong Gyu, Yoon Sang Hyun, Ryu Chae Hoon, Ahn Hyo Beom, Lee Si Yeon, Jo Bom) advanced to the finals of the National University Student Self-Built Model Aircraft Competition and received an Encouragement Award in the GNU Dassault Systèmes Korea CATIA Design Report Competition. Fixed-wing Team 2 (Kim Seong Jun, Han Seong Bin, Jeong Sang Yeop, Yang Ryu Min, Kim Su Hyeok, Kim Jin Mo, Min Seo Bin, Kwon Na Hye, Ryu Hae Seung, Choi Jun Yong, Jo Seung Jin) won the Grand Prize in the Integrated Competition and an Excellence Award in the Design Report Competition. Both teams were recognised for their fixed-wing aircraft design capabilities, comprehensively showcasing their academic expertise and flight engineering skills. Team 1 (Rotary-wing) (Kim Hoon Min, Kim Hak Hyun, Kim Min Seo, Lee Dam Mi, Kim In Jeong, Lee Jun Su, Jeon Ji Eun, Lee Chang Hyung, Kim Nam Jin) demonstrated a spirit of challenge by successfully advancing to the finals even in the unfamiliar field of gyrocopters.

Notably, they achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Grand Prize for three consecutive years at the integrated competition. Having secured the Grand Prize five times in the last six years since 2020, they once again proved their status as the nation's premier unmanned aerial vehicle construction club.

Furthermore, Teams UAM 1 and 2 participated in the Aircraft Creation category of the 2025 National University Student UAM Olympiad, with both teams earning the honour of receiving awards. UAM Team 1 (Park Cheon Jin, Ko Won, Lee Jin O, Kang Tae Hyun, Jo Ga Won, Oh Seung Chan, Kang Min Su, Kim Nam Su, Lee Ju Yeon, Jeon Se Min, Jeong Jae Hyun) received the Excellence Award in the Aircraft Design category, recognised for their UAM design and aircraft manufacturing capabilities based on stable flight performance. UAM Team 2 (Kim Si Hyeon, Jeong Yeong Bin, Yoo Jae Won, Lee Gyeom Bi, Kim Tae Heon, Kim Tae Hyun, Park Jun Seo, Choi Seung Gi, Kim So Young, Han Yeo Ryeong, Jo Hyeong Jun) received the Best Innovation Award, presenting creative ideas for the UAM market. Furthermore, UAM Team 2 was awarded the Excellence Prize in the Capstone Design Competition organised by the Korean Society of Aerospace Engineers, acknowledging their flight and transition mechanism design capabilities.

KRONE has now recorded a total of four awards since the inception of the UAM Olympiad in 2022, distinguishing itself in the UAM field based on fixed-wing design technology.

These achievements represent the culmination of comprehensive capabilities, extending beyond mere manufacturing ability. They encompass original structural design, mission strategy formulation, and actual flight execution, all grounded in the design theory and engineering knowledge honed within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kookmin University. KRONE is gaining attention as a prime example of practical, application-focused education, demonstrating how theories learned in lectures on aerodynamics, structural mechanics, and control engineering can be applied to actual manufacturing and flight.

This award was made possible by the dedicated guidance and encouragement of KRONE's supervising professor, Dean Lim Si Hyung of the College of Creative Engineering, and the full support of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Consistent attention and sponsorship at the faculty level provided a foundation for students to demonstrate their creativity and practical skills while taking on challenges, which ultimately led to this remarkable achievement.

Dean Lim Si Hyung (Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering) stated, ‘We will not rest on this achievement but plan to continue our research and challenges,’ adding, ‘We will do our utmost to enhance Kookmin University's reputation while contributing to the advancement of the aerospace field.’