Printed Parts for a Lighter Flight

Bastian Schäfer, an Airbus engineer, believes the ability to 3-D print airplane parts—including the plane’s very skeleton structure—will revolutionize air travel. Schäfer is project manager on what his group calls the Bionic Partition Project. The project itself is under the purview of the Airbus Emerging Technologies and Concepts Group, led by Peter Sander. Working under Schäfer, the group has created a 3-D printed partition to separate the seating area on the A320 from the galley.