EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — (December 29, 2016) — The doers, dreamers, and innovators who are ready to change the way people fly are again invited to submit their best ideas for the 2017 Founders’ Innovation Prize competition sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).
The second annual competition again welcomes ideas to counter loss-of-control accidents in amateur-built aircraft. Entries are now being accepted through June 15, 2017. The top five entries will be invited to showcase the innovation at a “Shark Tank”-style public presentation at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, next July. The top innovation will be awarded $25,000, with additional cash prizes for second and third place.
The inaugural competition in 2016 drew more than 140 entries from well-known aviation designers to those who had never submitted ideas for a design contest previously. Ihab Awad of San Jose, California, earned the 2016 top prize with his entry named “Airball,” which continually synthesized flight data so a pilot could quickly understand the current flight state of an airplane.
“Just as EAA has drawn from the ideas and abilities of its members through its first 65 years, the Founders’ Innovation Prize allows a pathway for these creative ideas in flight safety,” said Sean Elliott, EAA’s vice president of advocacy and safety. “We no doubt will build on the originality, practicality, and imagination shown in the competition’s first year in 2016, and we encourage individuals, groups and educational institutions to all get involved in our ultimate mission – improving flight safety by reducing loss-of-control accidents.”
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have identified loss-of-control scenarios as one of the leading causes of general aviation accidents. As part of EAA’s widely praised efforts to improve safety, the Founders’ Innovation Prize was created to encourage ideas from every source that could help reduce such accidents.
Complete entry information and rules are available at eaa.org/prize. That website also includes the finalists and champion from the 2016 Founders’ Innovation Prize competition.
