MIT grad student Carl Dietrich won the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for Inventiveness. A PhD candidate in the Aeronautics and Astronautics program, he's created novel designs for a personal flying car, desktop fusion reactor, and a lower-cost rocket engine. According to an article in Newsweek, he plans to take pre-orders for the flight vehicles, called the Transition, starting in July. It will cost around $100,000. From Newsweek:
The Transition runs on regular gas. But you can drive it to the airport, extend its origami-like wings, take off at double the highway speed and fly up to 500 miles away, then touch down and park it in your host's garage. With the wings folded, the Transition is about the size of an Escalade, with a little less cargo space. Of course, it's a little more difficult to maneuver–it requires a sport pilot's license–so it's not likely to replace your standard flightless car.
"It's not like every Joe Schmo and soccer mom on a cell phone is going to be driving one," says Dietrich…
Link to Newsweek article,
Link to MIT press release (Thanks, Dave Gill!)
