The Aircraft Seat and Parts Design and Engineering Competition organized for university students for the 2019-2020 academic year by TSI Seats, which has had great accomplishments since its foundation in 2012, has been concluded.

The competition was organized for the first time this year to support innovative ideas on seating and seat spare parts, and the level of participation was impressive.  Seating and seat parts account for an important share in the aircraft cabin interior market, and this competition established ground work for the design and development of indigenous and modern products with high added value that will increase the competitiveness of our country in the international aviation market.   Through these awards students are given an opportunity to actively participate with industry, promoting and encouraging the design culture in Turkey and to carry out activities in parallel with the 2023 export strategy.   

A total of 36 students from 21 different universities participated in the competition, and 29 projects were submitted for evaluation by the jury. TSI Managing Suat Sağıroğlu, Design and Program Management Director Tamer Açıkel, Sales and Marketing Manager Ahmet Özyılmaz and academicians from Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics Prof. Melike Nikbay and Asst. Prof. Hayri Acar were the jury of the competition. The winning projects among the creative projects prepared about passenger experiences, needs emerged during the pandemic process, cost reduction targets, creating a comfort zone, etc. were announced at the award ceremony held online on August 26th.

Based on the scoring as per the scores and the number of students participating in the competition, Kocaeli University Faculty of Architecture and Design received the "Faculty Special Award" with the highest score in total.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Kumsal Kurt, a student from Özyeğin University Department of Industrial Design, with the project named "Holdup" designed for the easy use of electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptops, and tablets during the journey, and to Tuncay Çalışkan, a graduate student from Sakarya University Manufacturing Engineering, with the project named "Mono Leg" designed with the aim of a more affordable and easy installation, different from the existing leg design. 

Gazi University Department of Industrial Product Design students Zeynep Beyza Özergin and Emine Asude Çırkan won the third prize with their “Only Aircraft Seat”, designed considering the social isolation measures – the topical issue of the pandemic.

Ferhat Küçükşakalak, a student from Selçuk University Department of Industrial Design, won the second prize with his "Aero Economy Class Aircraft Seat", designed as a modular product family to meet the needs of low-budget, domestic or short-haul flights of airline companies.

In the competition held for the first time in the 2019-2020 academic year, Marmara University Department of Mechanical Engineering student Bazar Tuvakov was granted the first prize with the seat that was designed considering the importance of safety, comfort, seat weight and technological opportunities.