Story ID: 
Daher Kicks Off 'General Aviathon' Challenge
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Students have the change to compete for a $5,000 price and possibility of seeing their innovations developed.
Word Count: 352
Daher has launched a student innovation challenge, the “General Aviathon,” designed to foster development of technologies that could make TBM aircraft more autonomous, intelligent, and connected and that could refine the piloting experience, the manufacturer said.

Conducted through Daher’s Silicon Valley-based innovation program, Armstrong by Daher, the event will challenge student teams to develop computing capabilities, artificial intelligence processes, and other software.

“Armstrong by Daher is tasked with accelerating our parent company’s digital transformation, and there is no better way than harnessing Silicon Valley’s imagination and capability for a future transformation of the TBM aircraft,” said Florent François, head of digital strategy at Daher, and one of two company executives overseeing the Armstrong by Daher innovation program.

Students participating in the General Aviathon will benefit from the expertise of a range of mentors, who will be available to tutor on the TBM’s operational and system aspects, as well as provide insights from the pilot and passenger perspectives, said Cédric Eloy, Daher’s head of innovation strategy.

Daher listed several potential topics that could be covered in the General Aviathon, including how can the TBM be improved with embedded artificial intelligence; what kind of vocal assistant could be relevant to its pilots; how the TBM can be given real-time computing capacity; and which technologies would improve the aircraft’s performance.

Further innovations could look at new services for Daher’s Me & My TBM cloud-based application, improvements in the customer experience, and enhancements to the TBM’s comfort.

Competing teams will develop an initial proposal, provide mid-term reports, and a final report. Selected teams will move forward to the test and presentation phases, followed a second down-selection for the final pitch and determination of the winners. Daher will highlight the winning submission at the NBAA convention in October in Las Vegas. Winners will receive a cash prize of $5,000—and the potential to partner with Daher in deploying their technology.

Details are available here or contact project manager Emma Maury.

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