FYI 2009 - Highlights
- Over 2,350 students from 82 countries registered to take part in the competition
- 225 teams took part in Round 1
- 86 teams were selected for Round 2
- 5 teams were selected for Round 3
- View a few examples of project videos submitted by teams from FYI 2009.
The five finalists presented their proposals to a special grand jury in the centre of Paris. The jury consisted of five internationally renowned independent experts and five Airbus representatives specialised in fields such as engineering, the environment, human resources, strategy and marketing.
"We were truly impressed by the effort made by all five teams, the high quality of their projects, their presentation and the command they had of their subject areas", declared Patrick Gavin, Airbus´ Executive Vice-President Engineering, Fly Your Ideas contest patron and jury President 2009. "We were looking for challenging blue-sky creative thinking, and all the teams demonstrated this. If these students represent the future of aerospace, then it promises to be an exciting future!"
The finalists were:
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Winning team - COz team - University of Queensland, Australia
The "COz" team was comprised of team leader, Michael Heitzmann (27), of Swiss origin and Alex Ng (25), originally from Hong Kong, both PhD students in mechanical engineering, and third team member, Benjamin Lindenberger (26), from Germany, an aerospace engineering student who is undertaking his University of Stuttgart diploma thesis at the University of Queensland.
The team was chosen for its proposal to use bio-composite materials made from the castor plant for producing aircraft passenger cabin components. The goal is to reduce dependency on non renewable sources and improve end of life disposal thus contributing to a reduction of aviation carbon footprint.
Team leader Michael Heitzmann said: "Over the past 20 years or so composites have proven that they can be used to make aircraft significantly lighter, which improves operating efficiency. The key theme and focus of our project was to improve the sustainability of fibre-reinforced plastics and we believe natural fibre composites are the way to achieve this. But we also wanted to take it one stage further by producing a single plant-based high-performance composite to significantly improve sustainability. Our team is a very international one and we are proud to be representing the multi-cultural background and technological capabilities of Brisbane and Australia."
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Runner-up team
Solaire Voyager from National University of Singapore for its proposal to use solar cell technology integrating photovoltaic cells aboard aircraft to generate electricity.
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Other finalists
Big Bang Team from Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain for its windowless cabin proposal for a new eco-efficient aircraft design.
Kometa Brno from Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic whose team developed a project on aircraft taxiway movements using electro-motors.
Stanford ADG from Stanford University in the USA for its proposal on inverted V formation flight, building on the model of migrating birds to reduce energy consumption.
To view the video from last year’s final, as well as other FYI videos, click here.
"My advice to future participants would be to ensure two things - correct fundamental engineering and to approach new ideas with bundles of enthusiasm."
"Companies continually have to make decisions on what the future will be like, and that is why Fly Your Ideas is such a great initiative. It gives students around the world a unique platform to put forward ideas that can change the aviation industry. Investment and operational development require a view of the future."
"As an astronaut, I believe whomever conquers space will conquer the world. The benefits that we obtained from space are tremendous; hence, it is of the utmost importance that students today should place their top priority on science, aerospace and technology with aviation included."
"Science education, and the subsequent technology developments, leads people to a better, more free and democratic way of life."
Dr. Donald Tambunan is the Director of the Socio-Cultural Cooperation Directorate at the Jakarta-based headquarters of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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