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Eight finalist teams participating in the 2025 NASA Gateways to Blue Skies Competition have been selected to present to a panel of judges their design concepts for aviation solutions that can help the agriculture industry.
Sponsored by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, this year's competition asked teams of university students to research new or improved aviation solutions to support agriculture. The goal of the competition, titled AgAir: Aviation Solutions for Agriculture, is to enhance production, efficiency, sustainability, and resilience to extreme weather. Participants submitted proposals and accompanying videos summarizing their AgAir concepts and describing how they could demonstrate benefits by 2035 or sooner.
"We continue to see a growing interest in our competition with a tremendous response to this year's agricultural theme - so many great ideas fueled by the passion of our future workforce," said Steven Holz, NASA Aeronautics University Innovation assistant project manager and co-chair of the Gateways to Blue Skies judging panel. "We are excited to see how each finalist team fleshes out their original concept in their final papers, infographics, and presentations."
The eight finalist teams will each receive stipends to facilitate their participation in the culminating Gateways to Blue Skies Forum, which will be held near NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California, May 20-21 and livestreamed globally. Finalists will present to a panel of NASA and industry experts, and the winning team will have the opportunity to intern at one of NASA's aeronautics centers during the coming academic year.
