Prize Winners Will Get A Week Of Learning With Top Airbus Innovators And €30,000

The biennial 'Fly Your Ideas' competition is once again challenging students worldwide to develop new ideas for a more sustainable aviation industry. This year, a win will mean not only a €30,000 ($38,715) cash prize. The successful team will also welcome experts from Airbus’ Innovation Cell onto their campus for a week of learning on what it takes to become a true aviation innovator.

Airbus says the competition enables the planemaker to interact with universities across the globe and students of all disciplines, sharing insight on how the company is developing new technologies for more sustainable aviation that future travelers say they want. “We are looking to engage and interact with the next wave of talents who share our vision for a more sustainable future aviation industry,” said Charles Champion, Executive Vice President Engineering Airbus and Fly Your Ideas patron. “We hope to stimulate ideas and international exchange within the global student and academic community to inspire the next generation of innovators.”

This year all rights to designs and creations from the teams will belong to their developers, giving them the opportunity to decide what to do should they want to progress their ideas further.

Global enthusiasm for Fly Your Ideas continues to grow, with 111 teams from 55 countries already registered to participate in the 2013 edition – and over two months still to go until the deadline closes for entries. Teams hoping to make the selection for the next stage must submit their idea through the competition website by December 7, 2012.

This year the topics for the competition are: "Energy”; "Efficiency”; "Affordable Growth”; "Traffic Growth”; "Passenger Experience” and "Community Friendliness.” These have been identified by Airbus as the six key challenges of the 21st century for a sustainable aviation industry. Fly Your Ideas is part of the aircraft manufacturer’s pioneering initiative ‘Future by Airbus’, a vision of sustainable air travel for 2050 and beyond.

FMI: www.airbus.com