Press Release
Orca eVTOL Emergency Medical Aircraft by Soma Varga, Zsolt Koltai and Akos Matyus Receives the Bronze A' Design Award in Aerospace and Aircraft Design
The international grand jury of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Soma Varga, Zsolt Koltai and Akos Matyus for aerospace and aircraft design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2021 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Aerospace and Aircraft Design category for Orca eVTOL Emergency Medical Aircraft by Soma Varga, Zsolt Koltai and Akos Matyus, designed for Orca Aerospace. The recognition forms part of the 2020 - 2021 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Orca eVTOL Emergency Medical Aircraft
Orca eVTOL is an emergency medical aircraft with electric vertical take-off and landing capability. The single pilot aircraft carries three people and is built from carbon fibre composite materials. Seven independent electric motors, powered by lithium-based batteries, provide propulsion and add safety. The wingspan is 12.45 metres and the length is 8.1 metres. Electric motors start within seconds, while turbine engines need a warm-up time. Winged flight allows a higher cruise speed than rotorcraft, so patients reach treatment sooner.
Award Record
Soma Varga, Zsolt Koltai and Akos Matyus is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Aerospace and Aircraft Design Award
The A' Aircraft Design Award is an international aircraft design competition recognizing good aircraft designs by best aircraft designers and brands worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to aircraft designers, aerospace engineers, aircraft manufacturers and aircraft brands from all countries. Typical entries include jets, helicopters, gliders, drones, seaplanes and airships. The awarded aircraft designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/aircraft
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/112394
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/112394
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!112394
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/288620
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.orca-evtol.com/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Orca eVTOL Emergency Medical Aircraft
- Function
- Emergency Medical Aircraft
- Category
- Aerospace and Aircraft Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Automotive
- Colors
- Lavender, Silver, Dark Gray, Black and Gainsboro
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Orca Aerospace
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Soma Varga, Zsolt Koltai and Akos Matyus
- Country
- Hungary
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2020 - 2021
- Design ID
- #112394
Credits
- Team
- Soma Varga, Ákos Matyus and Zsolt Koltai
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The Orca eVTOL is a vertical take-off and landing aerial vehicle equipped with electric propulsion. The single piloted Orca has been designed to compeete with current emergency rotorcraft by transporing patients at higher speed, lower operational cost and incerased safety due the installed 7 independent electric engines and advanced aerodynamic design. The possible range of the carbon composite aircraft with three person on board and with current battery technology is up to 120 km.
- Inspiration
- The concept of the Orca electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) was designed to challenge the current rotorcraft market used in the emergency medical services. With continuously advancing battery and electric engine technology, the concepts of eVTOLs became feasible. In the airborne medical services, introducing electric propulsion and winged aircraft concepts, the response time can be significantly reduced. All this to help avoid fatal outcomes of such situations.
- Research
- The design of the Orca eVTOL started with setting the flight performance requirements such as minimum range, payload, and cruise flight speed. All these emerged from a typical flight profile for a rotorcraft used in emergency medical operations. After deriving the strict performance requirements, a major effort was made to design an easy to operate yet safe aircraft architecture. This resulted in a so called three-surface aircraft with top positioned main wing and with axisymmetric fuselage.
- Challenge
- The most challenging part of a VTOL design is to combine design methodology of fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft, two different regimes of aviation that are well documented when investigated separately but is still full of unknown obstacles when treated as a single regime. Having to run engines effectively while hover and during levelled cruise flight introduced energy management challenges.
- Realization and Technology
- The proposed concept uses high performance carbon fibre composite materials, common in aerospace industry. The integrated electric motors have already a proven background in motorsport and run entirely on lithium-based batteries.
- Operation and Interaction
- When alarming the rotorcraft medical services, the gas turbine engines of the rotorcraft have a warm-up time. This can mean up to 3 min before the take-off. With electric engines all this is reduced to seconds only. Due to the flight speed limits placed on the helicopter’s rotating blades, the wing borne flight of the Orca allows a higher maximum cruise speed. All these reduce the time form the emergency call until the treatment of the patients and the transfer flight back to the hospital.
- Project Duration and Location
- The time required to design the Orca eVTOL from the first sketches to this stage covered six months. The design team has its headquarter in Pécs, Hungary.
- Specifications
- The wingspan of the Orca is 12.45m, its length is 8.1m with an overall heigth of 2.4m.
- Keywords
- VTOL, electric propulsion, emergency medical services, aircraft, battery propulsion
