Students from India's SRM University have designed a shape-shifting engine that uses intelligent materials (shape memory alloys) to reduce noise pollution.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Airbus and UNESCO invited aeronautics and engineering students to come up with ideas for a futuristic aircraft
- Ideas include planes powered by batteries, body heat and cow manure, luggage that floats and a shape-shifting jet engine
- Some of the proposals could cut CO2 emissions by 97%.
Imagine a future in which planes run on a mixture of batteries, body heat and cow manure.
Or perhaps noise pollution would cease to exist (thanks to a shape-shifting engine, that is). Luggage could arrive at the baggage carousel quicker, because it would float on and off aircraft like pucks on an air hockey table.
These sci-fi-sounding concepts have been drafted by a handful of engineering students at the behest of Airbus, who has partnered with UNESCO to sponsor the third consecutive Fly Your Ideas competition.
According to Dale King, Airbus' senior manager for research and technology, the goal is to engage tomorrow's innovators, and perhaps nudge their eco-conscience in the process.
"We're trying to encourage the next generation of leaders to think about ways in which the aviation industry could be made more eco-efficient, and to be sympathetic to its environmental impact," he says.
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