Student Inventors Beat Military Contractors in Anti Drone Competition

The article recounts how a team of University of Toronto engineering students built a low-cost anti-drone system that performed surprisingly well against much larger, better-funded competitors in a military counter-drone challenge. Instead of using expensive directed-energy tools (like lasers) or conventional electronic warfare, the students’ approach relies on ultrasound/acoustic waves to destabilize a drone’s flight systems. The story frames it as a “David vs. Goliath” moment: small, fast-moving innovators showing they can compete with (and sometimes outperform) major defence contractors by taking a different technical path and iterating quickly.

It’s essentially a digest of wider reporting on the competition outcome and why sound-based approaches are gaining attention as a potentially non-kinetic way to counter small drones—especially in scenarios where safety, cost, and simplicity matter.