UAV Forge
Who We Are
UAV Forge is a multidisciplinary engineering design team at UC Irvine focused on designing, manufacturing, programming, and testing autonomous aerial vehicles. Our team consists of 40 undergraduate students, and each year our goal is to create a design that pushes the limits of innovation to compete against state-of-the-art systems in the annual Student Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) competition. Our broader mission is to provide students with hands-on experience in real-world engineering challenges, bridging the gap between academia and industry.
Members of our Competition Team at SUAS 2025
Our Mission
The SUAS competition simulates real-world search and rescue missions where teams must develop UAVs capable of autonomous flight, object avoidance, object detection, and mapping unfamiliar environments. The UAVs are tested in their ability to fly waypoint laps autonomously and execute an airdrop delivery, accurately deploying a payload to an identified dropzone with a controlled descent.
In the most recent SUAS season, UAV Forge placed 1st in the U.S. for mission execution and 7th place internationally out of 49 teams. These achievements inspire us to aim even higher this year, but to excel in the 2026 SUAS competition, we need your help!
Flight testing Weaver at OCMA
Your Support
To bring these designs to life, we rely on external funding to cover critical aspects of our project, including manufacturing, flight testing, and competition travel, ensuring our students have the resources to innovate and compete at the highest level. Your donation directly supports the purchase of essential materials and components needed to build our high-performance UAV. It ensures our team will recover quickly from setbacks such as damage during intensive flight testing, hardware failures, or iterating through new designs when engineering challenges arise. Strong financial backing also allows our team to pursue more ambitious, long-term designs such as a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) platform.
By supporting UAV Forge, you are investing in not just a single aircraft but helping to cultivate the next generation of engineers. Your generosity fuels our progress and allows our team to compete at the highest level every year, at the SUAS competition.
Follow Us
You can follow our progress throughout the year by checking out our website at https://uavforge.eng.uci.edu/ and following our Instagram, @uavforgeatuci. If you have any questions, please reach out to Anthony Tam, Operations Lead, at uavforge.uci.sdp@gmail.com.
Our 2025 Competition Drone, Weaver$10
Bronze Supporter
Thank you for your support! Your contribution gets us one step closer to the finish line.
$25
Silver Supporter
A $25 donation buys two servos, which are vital components that control the moving parts of our UAV during flight tests.
$50
Gold Supporter
A $50 donation provides a full roll of PETG filament for our 3D printers, which is indispensable for the rapid prototyping of airframes and custom parts.
$100
Platinum Supporter
Your support funds critical avionics components keeping our drone airborne during intensive test flights at the ARC and OCMA.
$250
Emerald Supporter
Your donation helps us manufacture a custom PCB, integrating sensors and electronics to enable autonomous missions.
$500
Double Diamond Supporter
A $500 donation equips us with a state-of-the-art flight controller, enabling robust autonomous navigation, obstacle avoidance, and mission execution.
$1,000
UAV Forge Partner
At this level, your contribution directly supports essential competition expenses such as airfare, lodging, and logistics. Your generosity ensures that our team can journey across the country and represent UCI on the international stage.
