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May 17, 2009
Airbus "Fly Your Ideas" Contest: Five Teams Reach Final
Teams hail from the Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe.
Photo: Airbus A321 being delivered to Air France at Airbus' Hamburg, Germany facility. (© Airbus)
Photo: Airbus A380 Takeoff. (© Airbus)
Five teams out of the 86 that were still in the competition have been chosen to go forward to the grand final of the Fly Your Ideas challenge at the Paris Le Bourget Airshow. Airbus, launched the contest in October 2008.
More than 2,350 students from 82 countries entered Fly Your Ideas. To participate in the contest, students were asked to develop creative ideas that can shape the future of aviation and deliver a further reduction in the industry's impact on the environment. Of the 225 teams taking part in the first round concluded in December 2008, the top 86 teams were selected for round two which ended on 31 March.
The five finalist teams are:
• The "Big Bang Team" from Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain for its windowless cabin proposal for a new eco-efficient aircraft design.
• "COz" from the University of Queensland, Australia (including an overseas student from the University of Stuttgart, Germany) for its proposal on the use of bio composite cabin materials made from castor plant natural fibres.
• "Kometa Brno" from Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic whose team developed a project on aircraft taxiway movements using electro-motors.
• "Solaire Voyager" from the National University of Singapore, selected for its solar cell technology project integrating photovoltaic cells aboard aircraft to generate electricity.
• "Stanford ADG" from Stanford University in the USA for their proposal on inverted V formation flight, building on the model of migrating birds to reduce energy consumption.
Photo: The Airbus A350 XWB's onboard systems are designed for maximum robustness and simplicity. (© Airbus)
Photo: The Airbus A350 XWB's widebody fuselage provides optimum seating efficiency for revenue potential. (© Airbus)
Between now and the Le Bourget Airshow, the teams will prepare their project presentations with the help of an Airbus coach. On 18 June, the teams will present their projects to the jury in Paris. The first and second place teams will be announced on 19 June, at the Le Bourget Airshow where Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO will present the prizes. The winning team will receive a first prize of 30,000 euros whilst the runner-up will receive 15,000 euros. An additional prize of 5,000 euros will be given to the team who is chosen by Airbus employees for the "Employees Choice" prize. The additional award will be given to the team who is selected as having the best video from among the teams not selected for the final.
The jury is comprised of five internationally renowned independent experts and five Airbus representatives, specialized in fields such as engineering, the environment, human resources and marketing.
"Selecting the five teams was incredibly difficult as the projects submitted were very diverse and of high quality. The Fly Your Ideas contest has demonstrated that students from around the world have excellent ideas for the aviation industry of tomorrow," declared Patrick Gavin, Airbus Executive Vice-President Engineering and Fly Your Ideas contest patron.
Airbus is one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers. With annual revenues of over 27 billion euros in 2008, Airbus is a global company employing some 52,000 people from over 80 countries.
Source: Airbus
|GlobalGiants.com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 11:17 PM | Link to this Post
