A one-day event dedicated to the finalists of the USAIRE Student Awards was organised at Paris Air Show by Rolls-Royce Regional Office Paris on Friday 21st June.
The event kicked off at Boeing media chalet with a presentation of the group by Jean-Marc Fron (Managing Director – Boeing France) followed by a convivial breakfast offered by Boeing.
Later on the students were briefed on the 2019 contest topic by Michel Dubarry (President Europe & North Africa – Rolls-Royce), Bruno Stoufflet (CTO – Dassault Aviation), Nathalie Domblides (Technical Director for European Cooperation and Safety Rules – DGAC) and Col. Jean-Christophe Boeri (Deputy Director – Defence Innovation Agency).
French Aerospace media of reference Air & Cosmos then hosted the delegation for lunch, together with Gen. Jean-Marc Laurent, Holder of the Defence and Aerospace Chair at Sciences Po Bordeaux and ex four-star general in the French Air Force.
Our delegation was then guided for a two-hour tour on Airbus chalet and static display, incl. A350XWB, A330MRTT and SCAF digital showroom.
For the record, the USAIRE Student Awards were created 14 years ago by Michel Dubarry, then President of USAIRE, in order to bridge the gap between the industry and the youth, bringing together the leaders of today and tomorrow.
As announced by Gen. Philippe Lavigne, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, the research question this year is: “Defence Aerospace and protectionism in a multipolar world: from Civil to Defence and vice-versa, what industrial strategies?”.
The prize-giving ceremony will be held on the occasion of USAIRE association’s annual gala event, the Thanksgiving Dinner, on November 29th in Paris, with 300 representatives of the Aerospace and Defence industry. The event will be organised under the patronage of Florence Parly, French Minister of Armed Forces, and with Eric Trappier as guest-speaker, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, Chairman of ASD and GIFAS.
Supported by the French Air Force, Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, Air France-KLM, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Air & Cosmos, Adecco and Aviation Sans Frontières, the USAIRE Student Awards are yearly organised under the patronage of a member of the French Government, incl. Emmanuel Macron in 2015 (then Minister of Economy), Jean-Yves le Drian in 2016 (then Minister of Defence) and Elisabeth Borne in 2017 and 2018 (then Minister of Transport).