Aerospace Engineering Student Raises Funds for Jetway Venture
After winning first place at an Embry-Riddle poster competition last spring, Aerospace Engineering student Dynamite Obinna is taking his Jetway venture to the next level by developing a prototype.
Dynaerobridge significantly reduces the time it takes for passengers to board and deplane their flights by utilizing multiple doors that are available on most commercial aircraft. By reducing boarding times, Obinna envisions a more enjoyable flight experiences for passengers that will also save airlines money. Reduced boarding times means fewer missed connections and less time for passengers to wait in airports, Obinna said.
Last spring Dynaerobridge won first place at the Embry-Riddle Discovery Day, hosted by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and the People’s Choice Award at the “Launch Your Venture” Entrepreneurship Expo. Obinna said he got the idea to create a venture after taking a short flight a few years ago and realizing it took longer to exit the aircraft than the entire duration of the flight.
Obinna is raising funds to build a prototype of a jetway through a crowdsourcing campaign on Indiegogo that ends on Oct. 17. He estimates that the prototype will cost about $50,000 to build. After using the prototype to test the design, he plans to approach airports for licensing agreements.
“The prototype will be a functional and exact projection of what the completed Dynaerobridge would look like,” Obinna said. “It will be able to demonstrate the major features of the jetway including the hydraulics systems, aircraft docking, detaching methods and weight support columns.”