NUS team "Solaire Voyager" emerged second in Airbus' Fly Your Ideas competition, which challenges university students worldwide to come up with novel ideas to shape the future of aviation. The results were announced at the International Paris Air Show on 19 June 2009, where the team went home with a prize of Euro 15,000.

The NUS team was under the supervision of Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) CEO Prof Joachim Luther and SERIS Deputy CEO Prof Armin Aberle.

(source: Airbus S.A.S. 2009/ e ^xm company/ P.Masclet)

The team comprises team leader Louis Lee Wee Boon, a first-year Masters student in Materials Science and Engineering, and team members Muhammad Adil and Vignesh Subramaniam, who are both second-year Engineering students. They won for their proposal to apply solar cells on civil aircraft for the generation of supplementary electricity to power onboard systems and reduce overall jetfuel consumption.

"This competition was a great initiative by Airbus to get students interested in the future of the aviation business. It has been a tremendous experience to work so closely with this world-famous aircraft manufacturer," said Louis. The team thanked NUS and SERIS, particularly the academic staff, for their support.

The Airbus competition saw a participation of 225 teams from colleges and universities from 82 countries. A total of five teams were selected for the finals in Paris, including participants from Stanford University (United States), Valencia Polytechnic (Spain), Brno University (Czech Republic) and the winning team from the University of Queensland, Australia.