Objectives

Fly Your Ideas is the Airbus student challenge, designed to inspire the next generation to pioneer sustainable aerospace and shape a safer, more connected world. By opening access to real industry challenges and experts, Airbus aims to spark curiosity, develop future talent and strengthen connections between education and industry. For the 2026 challenge, we're inviting students from universities around the world to use innovative digital technologies to secure tomorrow’s connected aerospace systems.

Please note that the challenge is now underway and new entrants cannot be accepted.

Airbus Farnborough

Airbus Farnborough

Team G-00SE Wins the 2026 Airbus Fly Your Ideas Challenge!

latest update

Congratulations to Team G-00SE from the University of Waterloo, Canada, crowned the 2026 champions following the online final on 25 June!

An expert Jury selected the winners alongside two other finalist teams:

  • Team Pyramids from Symbiosis Institute of Technology, India, also commended for the best pitch
  • Team Scrambled Eggs from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and RWTH Aachen University, Germany

The Jury

Tasked with evaluating these outstanding presentations, the jury was chaired by Jane Basson (Head of Corporate Governance, Quality and Security, Airbus Defence and Space), alongside:

  • Eric Morel (Chief Information Security Officer, Airbus Defence and Space)
  • Thierry Gautier (Senior HR Business Partner Corporate Security, Airbus)
  • Johanna Naukkarinen (VP, SEFI and Associate Professor, LUT University)
  • Pablo Garcia Tello (Section Head, New Projects and Initiatives, CERN EU Office)

In addition, congratulations to Team Sentinel from National University of La Plata, Argentine University of Enterprise and National Technological University, Argentina, who were commended for having the best video.

A huge thank you to the mentors, Airbus experts, and all participating students and universities who made this year's challenge a success.

The journey continues...

  • All finalists have been offered an exclusive internship opportunity at Airbus.
  • The winning team will be heading to the Farnborough International Airshow for the next stage of their Fly Your Ideas experience!

  • 1,900+

    students involved

  • 360+

    teams entered

  • 60+

    countries represented

Team G-00SE superimposed on a blue background with the Ariadne logo

Fly Your Ideas Team G-00SE

Team G-00SE - University of Waterloo, Canada with project Ariadne

Meet our winners

Five-person student team combining computer science and aerospace disciplines

Ariadne is a software-based navigation framework designed to protect aircraft against GPS (Global Positioning System) spoofing. It cross-references GPS data against inertial reference systems and terrain-referenced navigation at predefined checkpoints along the flight path. When GPS diverges beyond a set threshold, trust is progressively reduced and navigation falls back to terrain-corrected inertial data. ATC (Air Traffic Control) reroute messages are cryptographically authenticated. The system operates at the navigation-logic level, requiring no certified hardware modifications, enabling fleet-wide deployment via software update.

Team Pyramid stand in front of the Symbiosis Institute of Technology sign

Fly Your Ideas Team Pyramids

Team Pyramids - Symbiosis Institute of Technology, India with project CIPHER

meet our finalists

The team comprises four undergraduate students from electronics and telecommunications, computer science, and civil engineering backgrounds

CIPHER is a real-time voice authentication system for air traffic control communications, running on existing EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) tablets. It fuses four parallel checks: voice biometric verification using GMM-UBM (Gaussian Mixture Model-Universal Background Model) and i-vector methods, ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) traffic context validation, flight plan consistency checking and physics feasibility analysis. When a suspicious transmission is detected, a TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) - style red alert is issued and a CPDLC (Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications) verification request is triggered automatically. The pilot retains full authority. No ground infrastructure changes are required.

Team Scrambled Eggs stand in front of the KIT sign

Fly Your Ideas Team Scrambled Eggs

Team Scrambled Eggs - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and RWTH Aachen, Germany with project SkyMesh

meet our finalists

The team comprises three Mechanical Engineering undergraduates from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and RWTH Aachen

SkyMesh is a decentralised aeronautical communication architecture that converts aircraft into autonomous flying network nodes. When primary satellite or ground links are jammed or spoofed in contested airspace, SkyMesh automatically forms a self-healing mesh, relaying critical telemetry plane-to-plane until a secure node with an uncompromised connection is reached. It combines directional RF links, a novel Kinematic-Predictive Geographic Routing protocol, ADS-B-based neighbour discovery, and Zero-Trust security to maintain ATC visibility and operational continuity.

Airbus Digital Challenge

Airbus Digital Challenge

The challenge

With Fly Your Ideas Airbus is challenging students to show us how you would use innovative digital technologies to secure tomorrow’s connected aerospace systems.

Explore with us the digital technologies needed to keep data, networks, and operations safe and secure. This might include reimagining cybersecurity tools, developing smarter monitoring systems, designing clearer interfaces for humans, or proposing new processes that strengthen safety and reliability.

How does it work?

Round one consists of a short online questionnaire focused on your idea, your understanding of the challenge, the digital technologies you propose to use and the potential impact. 

In round two you will visualise or prototype your idea with support from an Airbus mentor and our experts. 

Get to the final and your team will enjoy one-on-one training before pitching your idea to a Jury at a live online final. 

Finalist team members will all be offered a guaranteed internship with the winning team receiving an invitation to join Airbus at Farnborough International Airshow in July 2026!

A timeline showing the key events of the Fly Your Ideas competition

Fly Your Ideas 2026 - Timeline visual

A horizontal timeline showing the expected key milestones of the Fly Your Ideas competition. Round 1 opened 3 February and closed on 24 March; Round 2 opened 15 April and closes 25 May; the final round runs between 8 and 24 June; the online finals will run on 25 June; and the programme of events concludes with Farnborough International Airshow on 23 July 2026

 

Paris Airshow 2023 Day 1 - Aerial view

Paris Airshow 2023 Day 1 - Aerial view

Prizes and benefits

Take part in Fly Your Ideas for a unique opportunity to grow, connect and be recognised on a global stage with learning and networking opportunities throughout. There are digital certificates for all entrants, industry mentors for all teams getting through to the second round, a guaranteed internship and career coaching for all finalists and an invitation to join Airbus at Farnborough International Airshow for the winning team in July 2026!

All participants will benefit from the chance to:

  • Develop key skills for cutting edge digital and aerospace roles
  • Explore innovative and emerging technology and tools
  • Connect with industry experts and global peers
  • Access career opportunities and insights

Find out more and get in touch

For more information about the challenge and eligibility to participate, please read the challenge Terms and Conditions, or check the FAQ below. 

If you have any other questions about the challenge, please contact: flyyourideas@airbus.com 

 

Airbus Fly Your Ideas 2026 - Terms & Conditions

Frequently asked questions

What is the Airbus Fly Your Ideas challenge?

Fly Your Ideas is the Airbus global innovation challenge for university students which brings together teams from around the world to address real-world challenges facing the aerospace industry.

Who can apply?

The challenge is open to university students from all disciplines, studying at any university worldwide; teams must have at least three, and a maximum of five, students from all profiles and backgrounds; participants should be enrolled in a university for the competitions duration; and students studying towards a Bachelor's and Master’s degrees, as well as PhD students, are welcome.

Please note that the challenge is now underway and new entrants cannot be accepted.

How many students can be in a team?

Teams must consist of three to five students and we encourage you to include students from a range of profiles and backgrounds for a high performing team.

How can my team take part?

The 2026 challenge is now closed, check back soon to find out about future challenges.

Why do I need a Google account to register?

You are sharing your data with Airbus, which uses the Google environment. This helps ensure everyone is on the same platform. If you are selected for round two, you will be invited to an Airbus Google Space to connect with Airbus representatives.

Our team already has three members and is complete. Can we add more?

Yes. You can add more members, up to a maximum of five per team, until the round one submission deadline. 

What are the benefits of participating?

All participants will receive a digital certificate and benefit from the chance to develop key skills for cutting edge digital and aerospace roles, explore innovative and emerging technology and tools, connect with industry experts and global peers and access career opportunities and insights. 

What are the prizes?

For the 2026 edition all finalists get a guaranteed internship and career coaching. The winning team will receive an invitation to join Airbus at Farnborough International Airshow in July 2026.

What is the role of the academic mentor?

Before the end of round one, each team must identify one member of academic staff who can verify that the team members are genuine students at the named institution(s) and will lend support in the development of their proposal, joining meetings with the team and their Airbus mentor if wished. The ‘Academic Mentor’ is a member of the academic staff of the team leader's university. They are invited to join the global online final in June 2026 if the team they are supporting is among the finalists and if their team wins the challenge, the Academic Mentor will be invited to join them as  a guest of Airbus at the Farnborough International Airshow.

Past editions

2025 - Team Aeromorph (Clinton, Oghosa and Junaid Ali)

Our winners in 2025 proposed the use of artificial intelligence for emergency landings by developing a vision-based hashtag AI co-pilot that identifies safe landing zones. Their innovative approach uses vision-based detection with reasoning demonstrated through heat maps, confidence bars, and obstacle alerts.

Paris Air Show 2025 - Fly your ideas

2024 - Team Drone Pre Check Flight (Nikolas, Luis, and Tom)

Our winners in 2024 pitched an idea to enhance safety through supporting pilot visual pre-checks by using drones and advanced technology to scan the aircraft outer structure for damage or potential points of fatigue.

Discover your future career at Airbus