After bagging an award for creating an eco-friendly aircraft design at NASA Green Aviation contest in 2011, students of Chennai-based private SRM University have grabbed third position at an international design competition in the field of aviation & space tourism organized by American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA).

A team of eight undergraduate students from the SRM University's Department of Aerospace Engineering won a cash prize of US$1,000 in the Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition 2011-12 organised by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)

A team of eight students led by the Department of Aerospace Engineering's final-year student Pate Sweety Prakash won a cash prize of US$1,000 in the Undergraduate Team Space Transportation Design Competition 2011-12.

The list of other members of the team includes Anku Aravind, Joel Alex Roy, Sarnavi Mahesh, Ravi Shakya, Jeevraj Hejmady, Rajdeep Chowdhuri and Rishabh Bana.

Speaking about the project, team member Sarnavi Mahesh said, "This design competition required us to present an innovative design and also a commercial business plan for the Earth- to orbit passenger vehicle."

The team named their design by a Sanskrit name NAVSHITIZ VAHAK - the Carrier of New Horizon.

AIAA, the organiser of the competition, aims to send as many as one thousand people to explore the space by the year of 2025.