Cooper Taylor
Won the Chief of Naval Research Scholarship Award ($15,000) for his “Next-Generation VTOL Drones” project at the 2025 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair — reported by Dronexl (Jun 2025) and local coverage.
What they built
Cooper Taylor designed 'Next-Generation VTOL Drones: A Breakthrough in Tilt Mechanism and Modular Design' — a low-cost vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone he built in his basement starting at age 17. His innovation introduces a motor-tilting mechanism so that rotors used for helicopter-style liftoff can rotate to serve as plane-style propulsion, eliminating idle motors and dramatically reducing manufacturing cost. He built six full 3D-printed prototypes, hand-soldering the circuit boards himself, at roughly one-fifth the price of a comparable commercial machine. His goal is to make advanced drones accessible to first responders, researchers, and everyday problem solvers.
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