Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
When a team of UT Austin aerospace engineering students set out to build an unmanned aircraft to detect and extinguish wildfires, they weren't just working toward a final grade. Their project would grow beyond the class, an international competition and even the aircraft itself.
The team – a collaboration between UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences and Cockrell School of Engineering – joined forces with partners from across the globe to develop and test an autonomous fleet of drones that could rapidly detect and contain wildfires before they spread out of control.
Read more about their efforts at https://news.utexas.edu/2026/08/06/from-senior-design-to-startup-how-a-wildfire-competition-sparked-a-ut-spinoff/
When a team of UT Austin aerospace engineering students set out to build an unmanned aircraft to detect and extinguish wildfires, they weren't just working toward a final grade. Their project would grow beyond the class, an international competition and even the aircraft itself.
The team – a collaboration between UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences and Cockrell School of Engineering – joined forces with partners from across the globe to develop and test an autonomous fleet of drones that could rapidly detect and contain wildfires before they spread out of control.
Read more about their efforts at https://news.utexas.edu/2026/08/06/from-senior-design-to-startup-how-a-wildfire-competition-sparked-a-ut-spinoff/
