UW seeking designs from students for sustainable flight school competition
Posted Jan 19, 2022 02:49:13 PM.
The University of Waterloo is looking to students to come up with net-zero energy and carbon-neutral performance designs for a sustainable flight school of the future.
Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics has partnered with the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre, Alsim Flight Training Solutions, and the Region of Waterloo International Airport to host the competition.
The competition started Monday and the winners will receive $8,500 in prize money.
Judges will chose the top three designs at the end of May. The final student presentations and winners' announcements will be at the annual general meeting of Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics on June 24.
“There has been an international shortage of pilots, with Boeing projecting 612,000 new pilots will be needed between 2021 and 2040,” Suzanne Kearns, director of WISA, explained in a news release. “Flight training is an expensive endeavour for students and contributes to carbon and noise emissions.”
“Using innovative technologies such as electric aircraft, flight simulators, and virtual reality, it is feasible to reduce training costs and environmental impacts while simultaneously improving learning effectiveness,” Kearns added.
