Boeing’s GoFly Flying Car Design Contest

The GoFly flying car design contest winners were announced on Thursday. The Boeing supported contest encouraged innovators and engineers to think outside the box to come up with novel solutions to personal transportation. All 10 winners received a $20,000 reward for topping out the more than 100 entires in the first phase of the contest. The second and third phases aim to have the winning teams design and build prototypes that will fly in 2019.

Boeing’s support of the contest is important because the aerospace industry will benefit from a no-idea-untouched format of competition that might allow some novel designs more consideration than normally given in established aerospace companies.

Greg Hyslop, Boeing’s Chief Technology Officer, stated: “The industry, from its inception, has thrived on good competition and innovation that is fueled by that competition. We need things like this to really spark the imagination of folks and encourage them.”

Why it’s important: Boeing’s acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences in late 2017 was a clear indicator that Boeing was serious about investing and researching eVTOL flight. Now, the GoFly competition is furthering progress in the industry and creating connections between innovators and large OEM’s that will allow for a competitive, but constructive, atmosphere in which some of the best designs will actually be produced and introduced to the public.

Source

• Seattle Times