A plane which can drop a military patrol boat into a high-seas hot spot or a micro-blimp which can float through a building in search of bad guys or injured people sound like fantasy machines out of a Hollywood action flick.

In fact they're the very real creations of final-year students in UNSW's Aerospace Engineering program which have been presented to representatives of major air industry companies.

Turning someone else's dreams into reality is a tough ask but Aerospace students, working in groups, have this year taken five concepts and developed them to the point where they could become reality.

"Anything here we can build today and build it cheap," student Alex Rogers said.

Alex is one of a team which designed a mustering helicopter - the first helicopter design by UNSW students - for specific Australian conditions: high visibility, robust engineering and a diesel power plant.

The other projects each addressed specific challenges.

One team's airborne patrol launch created a cargo aircraft which can dispatch an armed patrol boat into trouble areas at sea - addressing a potential need for military or coast guard operators.

Another, a micro-dirigible, or airship, is able to conduct airborne searches inside damaged or dangerous buildings.

Other projects were an unmanned heavy-lift cargo aircraft capable of delivering essential equipment to disaster zones and a trans-sonic interceptor aircraft.

The interceptor was designed as an affordable military aircraft able to confront smugglers and other illegal airborne operators in developing countries.

Aerospace design senior lecturer John Page said each year the aerospace engineering industry day attracted top designers from around the country to evaluate the students' work and the assignments also played a key role in developing students' creative capacities.

"The money that engineers earn for their company comes from their creativity," Mr Page said.

"People tend to think of fashion designers or building designers as being creative but they don't tend to realise that engineering designers are also equally creative and that's what we're desperately trying to generate in the work we're doing here."

Media contact: Peter Trute, 9385 1933, mob 0410 271 826

Video Links Click on either the ASX format or WMV format to watch a video of the students' designs.