A good example of polygonal modeling inside a design process.

OPAL is a multifunctional Business Class seat. It's based on a concept of staggering and symmetry to offer a wide range of features: 3 positions seat, flat screen, shelves and storages...

The project setup is: Design by AIRBUS, engineering by STELIA, mockup by PROTOSTYLE.

When I arrive at PROTOSTYLE's plant, the team is in big trouble. They're in charge of the project achievement but the data they received is unusable. The clock is ticking. We're in mid January and they're committed to deliver 4 mockups for a exhibition in April.
And a failure is not an option...

The data consists in an ALIAS nurbs file and a MAYA high density polygonal file. They both show the same global picture, but in ALIAS version, patches distribution is a complete mess, and the surfaces are filled with flaws, especially in the most complex areas. Conversely, the MAYA version is quite clean, despite it contains many bad topology.
A quick analysis reveals that the flaws on the ALIAS surfaces match with the topology mistakes in the MAYA object. With no doubt, it means that the ALIAS file is the result of a MAYA's polygon/nurbs conversion.