Why The Technical University of Delft Is Turning Heads With Its Lightweight Aircraft Seating Concept

The innovative design used 3D-printed seats to decrease weight and optimize passenger comfort.

A student team from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has won a prestigious Crystal Cabin Award for its Lightweight Aircraft Seating concept. The lightweight seat cushion uses minimal material to improve aircraft efficiency while ensuring passenger comfort.

The Dutch technical university had three teams in the final shortlist for the University category. Other winners at the event included Collins Aerospace and Air New Zealand's Skynest product. Finalists presented their ideas this week at Aircraft Interior Expo In Hamburg earlier this week, with a team of expert judges choosing the winners.

The aircraft seating design concept used futuristic technologies to reduce emissions and increase passenger comfort. The lightweight, comfortable, and sustainable seat design is created by using Fused Deposition Modelling to print the Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) cushioning using what it promotes as sustainable fibers. TPU also does not need flame retardant coating, meaning it can be fully recycled at the end of its life.

3D printing allows the cushion to be created with different gyroid infill percentages, reducing the amount of material needed while still supporting the weight of each passenger. This process, when compared to traditional solid materials, reduces the weight of each seat and the aircraft overall, thereby increasing fuel efficiency.

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The awards were announced at a gala dinner hosted by Hamburg's prestigious Chambers of Commerce during this year's AIX. The Crystal Cabin Awards Association awards trophies for innovations in the fields of cabin technology and passenger experience. Nearly 80 entries were evaluated this year by a jury of 28 industry experts, with the winning entries representing a vision of air travel that's more connected, comfortable, and sustainable than ever before. The winning student team expressed their excitement to be recognized and noted how the process had brought the group of strangers together:

"We feel very pleased and honoured that we received this award from the jury of the Crystal Cabin Award Association, and want to thank them for this recognition. It feels extra special because our concept started out as an idea from a 2 hour design contest with people that didn't know each other. This really proves that the smallest idea can grow into anything big."

The winning team this year consisted of students Thomas Hogeveen, Bas Ammerlaan, Maartje Ballemans, and Agi Strijker.

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The university category is one of the most innovative areas of the Crystal Cabin Awards and is designed to offer students a forum for imaginative clean-sheet designs. This year, all three finalists in the university category came from the Delft University of Technology, also known as TU Delft, from the Dutch Technische Universiteit Delft.

Two other entries made the shortlist in addition to the 3D-printed seat concept. Maartje Ballemans, who worked on the lightweight seat team, also submitted her Alba Seating Concept, an ultra-light seating fixture inspired by the biological form of the human spine that uses netting as a seat fabric to lower overall mass. Elsewhere, student Jayneel Kiran Soni worked in cooperation with Embraer to submit Horus. The concept is a different approach to lightweight seating designed for use on hydrogen-powered aircraft from 2030 and beyond.

Also picking up the top award at the event in the Cabin Concepts category was Air New Zealand's "Skynest," which will enter service next year when the first of Air New Zealand's new Boeing 787-9s

arrive. In the Sustainable Cabin category, Lantal Textiles' Deep Dyed Carpet won for its ability to potentially reduce airplane CO2 emissions via a more eco-friendly, lightweight cabin carpet.

Jonathan served as an International Air Cadet Exchange Ambassador to Canada, and was stationed at RAF Lakenheath as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S Air Force. With a passion for discovering new destinations, he has visited over 70 countries from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe. Jonathan holds degrees in Nursing and European Studies. Based in Essex, England