Our mission
Learning by doing
To give students the chance to put what they learn at university into practice, especially in aeronautics, while developing technical and soft skills for their professional future.
About us
Our team,
our strength
We are a University of Padua student team bringing together young engineers and enthusiasts with a shared goal: growing together through innovation, research and teamwork.
We are a multidisciplinary group of students from different degree courses, united by the same passion and by the challenge of turning ideas into reality.
More than a university project, LiftUP is a learning and human experience where every member brings their skills and learns to collaborate in a dynamic, stimulating environment.
We believe in teamwork, in the power of passion and in looking ahead. For us every result is not a finish line but a new starting point to improve even further.
60+
Students in the team
5
Departments
2017
Founded
5°/34
Best ACC finish
Our vision
Competing with drones we build ourselves
To design and build remotely piloted fixed-wing drones for the international student competition Air Cargo Challenge, combining innovation and experimentation to turn ideas into reality.
Our story
From 2017
to today
2017
LiftUP is born
The team is founded at the University of Padua. The goal: to design and build fixed-wing drones for the Air Cargo Challenge.
2019
Tullio and Marcoplano
First the Tullio prototype, then Marcoplano, our first race drone. At the ACC in Stuttgart we finish eighth out of nearly thirty teams.
2022
Kowalsky
Pusher prop and inverted V-tail. The mission: carrying simulated blood bags. Sixth out of thirty.
2024
Zephira
V-tail and airless-wheel landing gear. In rain and strong wind it completes the trials carrying a payload equal to its own weight. Tenth out of thirty.
2026
Midnight
A carbon twin-engine with retractable gear: 5th of 34 teams in Stuttgart, the best result in our history.
2028
What’s next
We are designing the drone for the 2028 Air Cargo Challenge. Meanwhile we are improving our preliminary design models, with experimental checks, and our manufacturing processes, trying them out on the drones we already have.
Want to be
part of it?
Every year the team opens its doors to new people. Applications for 2026/27 are open until 18 October.
Discover recruiting