Mark Adair, 25, who has just completed a product design degree course at the University of Derby – has won the 2008 Northern Design Competition.

He designed a lighter, more environmentally friendly seat for commercial passenger aircraft which replaces traditional materials such as steel and foam with ones seen as more sustainable because of their weight; such as aluminium, mesh and carbon fibre.

It's estimated the design could reduce an aircraft's weight by up to 30 per cent, saving on fuel and the amount of carbon emissions a flight produces.

Mark said: "I am absolutely gobsmacked to win this prestigious prize. It's been a fantastic opportunity to showcase the best design talents in the North and realise that good design isn't just found in London.

"It was fantastic to win this competition, I really didn't expect to. I originally came up with the concept for the Virgin Atlantic Design Challenge."

Terry Watson, programme leader for the design course, was delighted with Mark's big win. He said: "Mark's aircraft seat is typical of our approach to solving real design problems in an innovative and sustainable manner, he has a real talent and deserves this recognition of his work."

Mark and fellow University of Derby design graduates will also be exhibiting their work at the 2008 New Designers exhibition, at the Business Design Centre in London from July 10 to 13.

The competition attracted more than 2,700 entries in the categories of Illustration, Fine Art, Architectural Design, Digital Media, Fashion, Graphic Design, Product Design and Photography.

Mark receives £1,000 for winning the Product Design category and a further £2,000 for being named overall Northern Design Champion.