The need for sustainable and energy efficient aviation, pushes the aviation industries toward the design of the next generation of transport aircraft, with dramatic reduction in energy consumption, emissions and noise. Based on the Flightpath 2050 the airplanes flying in 2050 should have 75% CO2 reduction per passenger-kilometer. To achieve this goal, new technologies as well as novel aircraft concepts need to be developed. Electric or hybrid electric aircraft, active flow control technologies, active load alleviation technologies, bionic airframes and novel aircraft configurations such as blended wing body are examples of the solutions suggested to achieve the mentioned goals for the design of future aircraft.
The chair of aircraft conceptual design was established in 2017 at TU Braunschweig, to develop ideas, knowledge, methodologies and tools to support the design of the future aircraft.