Students from the KRONE academic club in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul) took first place and won the championship at the 「Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers 80th Anniversary DIY Drone Competition」 held at the High1 Grand Hotel on Friday, December 12.

This competition, a special event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers, comprehensively evaluated the design, manufacturing, and operational capabilities of drones, as well as the mechanical engineering problem-solving skills of undergraduate and graduate students nationwide. Participating teams were assessed on how much cargo they could safely transport from the starting point to the destination within a set time, while maintaining stable flight performance even in harsh environments using drones equipped with grippers.

Kookmin University had three teams advance to the finals after passing the preliminary screening, achieving the outstanding result of producing one winning team and two teams receiving honorable mentions.

The winning team, ‘Jiwoo Ingeotina’ (Jung Woo Jin, Jin Byeong Gyu, Lee Dam Mi, Kim Min Seo, Lee Chang Hyeong, Lee Jun Su), received high praise from the judging panel for successfully transporting the largest amount of cargo. This was achieved through stable flight performance and an efficiently designed gripper system. The ‘Deliverd’ team (Ryu Hae Seung, Kim Jin Mo, Kwon Na Hye, Kim Su Hyuk, Min Se Bin, Jo Seung Jin) and the ‘tect’ team (Kim So Young, Han Yeo Ryeong, Yoo Jae Won, Park Joon Seo, Choi Seung Gi, Kim Tae Heon), both awarded honorable mentions, showcased creative drone structural designs and original gripper mechanisms, earning recognition for their technical completeness and creativity.

This achievement resulted from combining mechanical engineering knowledge acquired in major courses with the production experience and know-how steadily accumulated since the founding of the KRONE club in 2015. The students are particularly highly regarded for demonstrating self-directed engineering education outcomes by personally executing the entire process—from structural design and analysis, precision control, and flight testing to actual operation—rather than merely building drones.

Professors Lim Si Hyung and Ha Chang Wan of Kookmin University's School of Mechanical Engineering, who supervise KRONE, stated, “The outstanding results achieved at the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers' DIY Drone Competition are the product of the students' passion and effort, along with the continuous interest and support from the university community.” They added, “We will continue to actively support students in developing field-oriented engineering capabilities and strive to cultivate next-generation talent.”