The award, the AHS Sikorsky Prize, was given for the first human powered helicopter (HPH) to meet a set of extremely challenging flight requirements.

In summary, the requirements to win the AHS Sikorsky Prize included a flight duration of 60 seconds and reaching an altitude of 3 meters (9.8 feet), with the center point of the aircraft hovering over a 10-by-10-metre (33 by 33 ft) square.

[5] The first HPH to get off the ground was the Da Vinci III in 1989, designed and built by students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California, USA.

[3] AeroVelo, comprising students and graduates of the University of Toronto, began flight testing its larger Atlas quad rotor HPH on August 28, 2012.

[13][14] AHS International awarded AeroVelo the prize July 11, after its Helicopter Competition Committee reviewed the flight data.