NASA Announces Finalists for 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition
NASA has announced the eight student teams selected as finalists for the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition. This competition aims to address critical challenges in U.S. aviation maintenance, including a shortage of qualified workers and increasing demands for aircraft upkeep. The current competition, titled "RepAir: Advancing Aircraft Maintenance," focuses on developing solutions with immediate applicability.
The Gateways to Blue Skies Competition aims to address critical challenges in U.S. aviation maintenance, including a shortage of qualified workers and increasing demands for aircraft upkeep.
About RepAir: Advancing Aircraft Maintenance
The competition challenged postsecondary student teams to conceptualize innovative systems and practices to advance commercial aircraft maintenance and repair operations. Its objectives include supporting innovative research and fostering the future aviation workforce. The specific goal for RepAir is to generate concepts that can improve efficiency, safety, and costs for the aviation maintenance industry by 2035, with an emphasis on current operational needs.
Finalists Selected and Awarded
NASA's selections were made following a review of participant proposals and accompanying summary videos. The eight finalist teams have each received a $9,000 prize and will proceed to Phase 2 of the competition.
Phase 2: Forum and Internship Opportunities
Phase 2 will involve a review of each team's final paper, infographic, and presentation at the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Forum. This forum is scheduled for May 18 at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and will be livestreamed globally. Eligible members of the winning team will be offered an an internship opportunity with NASA Aeronautics.
Innovative Finalist Projects Unveiled
The finalist projects encompass various capabilities, including robotic inspections, augmented reality applications, and sensor and machine learning architectures. These projects include:
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach with Cecil College Maryland: "Smart Mechanic Glasses"
- Manhattan University: "Aircraft Enhanced Resilience and Intelligence Systems (A.E.R.I.S)"
- Michigan State University: "Surface Evaluation Network for Tethered Inspection and Nondestructive Evaluation (SENTINEL)"
- South Dakota State University: "Surveying Platform and Inspection Device for Enclosed Regions (S.P.I.D.E.R.)"
- South Dakota State University: "WINGMAN, augmented reality data-logging and information-display system for improved efficiency in line maintenance inspections and reporting"
- South Dakota State University: "Surface Preservation and Rust Killer (S.P.A.R.K.) Crawler"
- University of California, Irvine: "Aircraft Structural Health Intelligence for Evaluation and Lifecycle Detection (Air SHIELD)"
- University of Maryland Eastern Shore: "A Self-Supervised Learning Framework for Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) Fuel Control Unit Health Management in Aircraft known as APU Sentinel"
Competition Management
The Gateways to Blue Skies Challenge is managed by the Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program within NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. The NASA Tournament Lab, under the Space Technology Mission Directorate, oversees the challenge through the National Institute of Aerospace.