ICAO’s 75th Anniversary: Future aircraft design contest winners!

Earlier this year, as part of our #ICAO75 celebrations, ICAO launched three #innovation contests for the next generation of #aviation professionals: an “Ideas” contest for ages 6-12, “Concepts” (13-17) and “Prototypes” for tertiary students and researchers.

Last week at our inaugural Innovation Fair, we were delighted to announce the winners of the contest. Some were even able to join us personally in #Montréal to receive their awards from ICAO’s Secretary General and the President of the ICAO Council.

The REGIONAL winners of the IDEAS contest are:

• Africa: Sina Fekadeneh & Caleb Fekadeneh, of Ethiopia
• Asia-Pacific: Helene Margaret Bariso Elias, of the Phillippines
• Middle East: Haya Hamad Ali Al-yarboey, of Qatar
• North America: Sadie Hanley, of Canada
• South America: Santiago Rodriguez, of Venezuela

The winner for Europe, and GLOBAL winner of the IDEAS contest, is ten year old Marco Boccalatte from Italy. Here he presents his High-Altitude Solar Propulsion Aircraft project – join us in congratulating this young aviation and sustainability leader!

The entries to the CONCEPTS category were excellent. The regional winners are:

• Africa: Pogotowia, by Natasha Sikinyi of Kenya
• Asia-Pacific: Zaia by Lee Kern of Singapore
• Europe: GimbalCopter by Steffen Klinder of Germany
• North America: Hybrid Plane by Julien Santerre of Canada
• South America: Stingreen by Mariana Guerrero of Venezuela

Among these, it was Steffen’s amazing “GimbalCopter” entry that has earned him the global concept prize! Here he discusses his vision.

Join us in congratulating the young aviation researchers who have distinguished themselves internationally through their entries to our #ICAO75 Innovation prototype contest.

• For Africa, we extend our congratulations to Obasogie Ikponmwosa of Nigeria who submitted the “Ion jet (I jet)” project.
• The European prize winner is Sin Yong Wook of Spain! Congratulations on your successful submission of your “E-FLIGHT-Solar” prototype.
• For the Middle East, the regional prototype prize went to A Yassin of Egypt, who submitted the “Scorpio V-8 Hypersonic ScramStar”. Well done!
• Charles Champagne, from Canada, submitted the “Aeronyx/Onyx ” prototype. It earned him first prize in North America! Congratulations!
• And for South America, we were pleased to award the regional prize to Pablo Valdivia San Roman of 🇵🇪Peru, following his successful submission of “Hybrid Modular SEAL vehicle” prototype. Congrats!

For Asia-Pacific, congratulations go to Steven S/O Muthukumar, Nicole Ng Shi Ya, & Cham Teik Hoe of Singapore, who are in fact our Global Grand Prize Winners! The team submitted a “Low emission commercial aircraft” project. This fascinating video describes their journey.

Congrats once again to all our winners and to everyone who participated in our three parallel innovation contests!

Mobility and all pillars of transport – air, inland and maritime – are at the centre of our social and economic fabric. They underpin social connections and facilitate access to goods and services, including trade, jobs, health care and education. Ensuring there are enough qualified and competent aviation professionals are available to operate, manage and maintain the future international air transport system, is critical.

ICAO offers logistical support to a cross-section of secondary, college, and university-level students who organize and conduct Model United Nations events. Though we know this support is often geared towards raising awareness on United Nations and ICAO multilateral goals and governance, when we consider the future of aviation we know there are younger, future aviators who will one day become leaders in this industry.