A team of UDIT students triumphs in the biggest international aeronautical design contest
A team of students from the Degree in Product Design at UDIT, University of Design, Innovation and Technology, has been a finalist in the "University" category of the prestigious Crystal Cabin Awards, the world's most important international competition in the field of innovation in aviation interiors. The awards ceremony took place on 8 April in Hamburg, within the framework of the Aircraft Interiors Expo, the most important event in the sector.
The finalist project, entitled R.A.I.S.S. (Restroom Autonomous In-flight Sanitising System), proposes an autonomous sanitising system for aircraft toilets that significantly improves cleanliness and the user experience during the flight.
Developed by Jaime Campos, Mateo Magaz, Guillermo Fernández Arias, Pablo Gil García de Viedma and Antonio Alejandro González, fourth-year students of the Degree in Product Design at UDIT, the system incorporates a robot that disinfects the floor after each use, as well as integrating design innovations such as an island sink and interactive screens that optimise ergonomics and space.
The work has been supported by Iberia and supervised by Airbus in its initial prototyping phase, which has allowed the team to validate its proposal in a real and highly demanding environment.
The proposal was inspired by a previous project developed by former students of UDIT's Degree in Product Design -Andrea Bune, David Serna, Marcos Travisano, Diego Cepeda, Javier Sevillano and Antonio Solana-, a reflection of the university's commitment to the transfer of knowledge and the consolidation of a training ecosystem that fosters the continuity and evolution of innovative ideas.
In the "University" category, the Crystal Cabin Awards function as a true innovation incubator, giving space to concepts developed by students from all over the world.
In this year's edition, UDIT's project beat high-level initiatives such as the "Single Aisle Lavatory Door 1", from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with Diehl Aviation, which proposes an accessible lavatory design for people with reduced mobility; and the "Ultra-lightweight Display System" from Tongji University together with Boeing, which uses micro-projectors and gesture recognition to offer a new in-flight entertainment experience.
Since its creation in 2007, the Crystal Cabin Awards recognise the most disruptive solutions that transform the passenger experience. This year, more than 50 projects from around the world competed in seven different categories.
