Every year since 1984, a Student Design Competition has been co-sponsored by the Vertical Flight Society, International, (formerly the American Helicopter Society) and the rotorcraft industry. Students from the University of Maryland first participated in 1988, when they were placed third, but remained absent from the competition for 10 years until, in 1998, Andreas Bernhard and other graduate students of the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center revived interest in it. Since then, Maryland has participated every year, winning first place in 24 out of the 29 competitions. The graduate students develop the design during a one-semester class in Helicopter Design (ENAE 634) offered by the Department of Aerospace Engineering in the spring semester of each year. The class is taught by Research Scientist Vengalattore Nagaraj and assisted by all faculty including distinguished visiting faculty Tomasz Krysinski. Since 2017 Maryland also participated in the under-graduate category, winning first place in 6 out of the 10 competitions. The undergraduate students develop their design over the course of a two-semester class.