Crystal Cabin Award - international award for excellence in aircraft interior innovation // Let your ideas take off. //

1. Any corporation, scientist, university, institution or individual natural person related with civil aviation industry, or airports may present an entry to participate in the Crystal Cabin Award. Applications from Airlines will also be welcome. Matriculated college and university students are allowed to apply for the category "University". If a student graduated recently and submits a concept she/ he worked out while being matriculated (the concept should not be older than one year), then that application can be accepted (confirmation of supervising professor required).

2. Members of the Crystal Cabin Award Association and members of the Judging Panel (JP) may not participate in the competition. A company, university or other institution that is represented in the Judging Panel by an employee is allowed to participate in the competition. If a competitor is represented in the JP by an associate, that member of the JP may not take part in the evaluation of that particular entry. If a member of the JP as a representative of a company who is a customer of the submitted product , then that member has to abstain from voting for this specific product. In case the entry mentioned reaches the finals, that member has to abstain from voting within the complete corresponding category. No member of the JP will be allowed to assess a product of a company he is associated with. Any assessment by a judge that is associated with the company responsible for an entry will be ignored for the total score of that particular entry. The judge will be allowed to evaluate other entries of competitors she/he is not associated with.

3. A company creating only one product type is not allowed to submit more than one entry, whereas a company with a wider range of products can apply with other product types in different categories. A company can only submit one application per category.

4. The innovative product or process presented for the Crystal Cabin Award must be on sale on the general market, or in working condition as a final test version as by the date of application. A concept is eligible for entry to the competition, even if it has not yet been introduced to the market, or if a test-version is not available. To be recognized as innovation an entry must introduce a change that presents a new dimension of performance. Products or concepts that have been established for two or more years can not be accepted as innovation without significant changes. The same entry can not be submitted twice, neither in the same year, nor in following years without significant changes. This applies only to products that have been short-listed (see under point 10.). The Pre-selection Committee (PC) will take the final decision about admitting a product/ concept for the second time.

5. Entries must include:

- The application form as found on the website www.crystal-cabin-award.com
- A digital PDF or PPT-document of max. 1000 words (6 pages) including a maximum of 6 photos/graphics describing the entry. The text must start with a very short summary.  
The text should include technical information as requested in the application form about the entry. It should answer the following questions:
• What passenger or operator benefit does your innovation offer?
• Describe the technological breakthrough of your innovation.
• Describe the economic benefit of your innovation.
• Please include basic technical information about your entry including - Market need, - Performance, - Development status & partner, - Patent situation and certification status, - Feasibility with respect to FAA/ EASA.
Documents that are significantly longer will not be accepted. No other material than the PDF- document will be made available to the judges. Please do not mention the category you apply for within the main presentation as the Pre-selection Committee might suggest a different category for the entry.
- For public relation and information purposes each entry MUST include a WORD-document containing a short text (150 words) about the entry. The Crystal Cabin Awards Association will use this text for publishing press releases and information material during and after the competition.
In addition to this text applicants must provide at least two printable photos/graphics of the entry (jpg./ 300 dpi/ one picture in portrait format + one picture in landscape format) as well as a company logo also for PR purposes.

6. Entries must be submitted online using the Award webpage. Finalists must be present in Hamburg 05 June 2023 for the Final Viewing. If the finalist is unable to be present, that person, company or institution will be allowed to nominate a representative, who will present the product or concept in Hamburg instead.

7. All entries must be submitted in English language.

8. All entries must be submitted until 08 February 2023 11.59pm CET. Delayed entries can not be accepted. Subsequent changes of application details and attached documents will not be accepted.

9. The entry contains a proposal for the classification into one of the categories. This choice may be changed by the PC, if the selected category is not appropriate. The applicant will be informed accordingly. An application may be entered in one category only. Just one company, institution or single person is allowed to apply for a category. Cooperation partners of the applicant must be mentioned additionally in the application form.

10. Applicants should explain, why the innovation in their product/ concept is unique in comparison to other products. Furthermore they should provide information about a similar existing product/ concept as well as about its development status. If these informations are not given, the entry will not receive the full amount of scores. Each participant is self-responsible to ensure that the product entered to the Awards does not violate copyright laws or intellectual property rights of another person, company or institution.

11. All applications fulfilling general application criteria will be evaluated by the PC. The PC is put together by the President of the Crystal Cabin Award Association and consists of at least 3 independent aviation experts. The PC decides upon the entries to be included in the competition's short-list and may also require further information from the participants before proposing it for the short-list. The short-list includes the best entries of all categories. The selection of the entries is based on the rules and regulations of the Crystal Cabin Award. Entries not included in the short-list, will not be evaluated by the Judging Panel.

12. All short-listed entries will be evaluated by the complete JP. Judges may not evaluate an entry of a company, university or other institution they are associated with. The judges’ decision will be based on the scoring rules as defined by the competition regulations and their general knowledge as experts. For the final viewing in Hamburg at least 1/3 of the JP members must be present.

13. The Judging Panel consists of aircraft interior experts and specialists. The judges remain neutral. The chairwoman or chairman of the Judging Panel is appointed by the members of the Crystal Cabin Award Association. She or he is chosen from the ranks of the panellists.

14. The Judging Panel's decision is final. All participants agree to accept the decisions of the CCA Association, the Pre-selection Committee and the Judging Panel.

15. The members of the Crystal Cabin Award Association, the members of the Judging Panel as well as the members of the Pre-Selection Committee have agreed in maintaining secrecy on all issues of the evaluation process. This includes all technical or commercial details of entries to the competition.

16. By submitting an entry, each applicant grants to the Crystal Cabin Award Association and their Sponsors the right to print, publish, display, broadcast, and use the entrant's name, entry information, trade names, trade marks and logos for purposes related to the award. The Award Association is not liable for any trade mark disputes concerning entries to the award.

17. By entering the competition participants grant permission to the Crystal Cabin Award Association and their sponsors to use the text and the photos for promotional purposes associated with the Crystal Cabin Award. Every applicant will take care by his own responsibility securing his intellectual property rights before submitting an application. Under no circumstances the Crystal Cabin Award Association is liable for any damage or any other affecting of property rights of the applicant.

18. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony 06 June 2023 during the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.

19. In the main categories there will be a first prize each (in case there are at least three finalists per category), with a certificate and a well-crafted, precious trophy. In the "University" category, the student of the university or college receives a certificate, a trophy as well as a prize money of € 1,500. Working associations, universities or students will share the prize accordingly.

20. Award winners and finalists may state in advertising or in promotional material, or on their stationery that they have been winners/finalists. They must include the awards logo, the category and year in which they have won.

21. Participants agree not to take any legal action at any time, whether before, while, or after each competition against any decision of the Crystal Cabin Award Association or any of its bodies, or members, or judges, whether internal or external in respect to the selection of applicants, judges, conditions sponsors, entrants, or other decisions concerning the Award.

22. The administration fee for the Crystal Cabin Award competition amounts to 360.00 € for every single entry (plus 19% VAT according to the legislation of the German Government for applicants based in Germany or for applicants based in the EU, who do not provide a VAT number within the application form). This fee may be paid by the applicant within 14 days from the date of filing, otherwise the entry will not enter the pre-selection process and will therefore not be accepted for the competition. In case your entry will not be accepted by the CCA pre-selection committee, the Crystal Cabin Award Association will refund all costs of the application fee except for the examination fee of 100,00 € (except the remittance costs). The amount of 100,00 € remains with the Crystal Cabin Award Association as examination fee for the pre-selection process. The remittance fee will be completely covered by the applicant. The same policy applies if you choose to withdraw your submission voluntarily. Student entries will not be charged in case the student ID of the current year is provided. Expenses resulting out of the award process have to be paid by the participants. In case you would like to benefit from the Early Bird rate, please make sure you submit your application and payment rate of 250.00 € (plus 19% VAT according to the legislation of the German Government for applicants based in Germany or for applicants based in the EU, who do not provide a VAT number within the application form)

until Dec 25, 2022.

23. All participants must agree to these rules.