First official appointment of USAIRE Student Awards Finalists 2018 !
The Pre-Student Awards Seminar is the first appointment of the finalists contest. It is an important event as it can be the starting point of finalist’s final dissertation. For the first time this year, the Paris Air Forum hosted the finalists.
The Paris Air Forum, which took place on the roof of the Grande Arche de la Défense, focused on “connected aviation and smart territory”. The opening ceremony was chaired by Elisabeth Borne, Minister of Transport and Ecological Transition. She delivered a very inspiring speech on the importance of the Aeronautics and Space sector for our economy, testified her willingness to support the evolution of this sector and to promote the sharing and exchange around Innovation.
At the end of the inaugural speech, a succession of debates, conferences and keynotes brought together personalities who made the news, major decision makers and experts of the sector. The objective was to decipher challenges of the present and challenges of the future to provide the right answers for tomorrow. Youth was an integral part of these considerations through the presence of some twenty start-ups representatives who did not fail to inspire the finalists of the competition.
After a rich morning, the finalists met for the Pre- Student Awards Seminar. Pascal Parant, President of USAIRE and Michel Dubarry, Executive Vice President of USAIRE welcomed us very warmly. Then Julie Guth, President of ORAJe took the floor to present us the activities of the association and its wish to gather young talents within a dynamic network.
Then, the conference dedicated to the USAIRE Student Awards, on the theme “Breakthrough technologies: the start-up that will upset the aviation industry in 2030” was led by Etienne Bobin, Vice President of ORAJe, and composed of a prestigious panel of speakers:
• Murvin BOODHOO Business Development Manager, PTC
• Mathias de DAMPIERRE Director of Starburst Aerospace
• Marc HAMY Chief of Staff to the President of Airbus
• James KORNBERG director of innovation, AFI KLM E&M
• Bruno STOUFFLET Director of R&D, Dassault Aviation
Definition of Rupture
The exchanges began with the definition of rupture. For the guest-speakers, 5 types of breaks can be distinguished: creation of a new business model, creation of a new use, creation of a new technology, intervention of new actors outside the sector and finally creation of a new how to develop a product, management methods or development cycles. It is important to note the difference between transformation and rupture.
Startup in Aerospace Sector
Once the context was set, the speakers focused on the question of start-ups in the aeronautics sector. It is important to know that they are new to it ; they have had a difficult start but have more and more interactions with major groups. People finally dare and the funding follows!
There is still a problem in Europe: despite the stream of emerging ideas, it is necessary to have the right idea, at the right time with the right partners and the right maturity to really get into the market.
With regard to maintaining the high level of innovation within the major groups, each company has adopted its own strategy. Air France is careful to keep its ideas in house as well as its talents, the company has developed the program “Boost the Future”. For its part, Airbus encourages the development of ideas that are not part of its field of activity and makes sure to locate near interesting skills, wherever in the world. Finally, for Dassault, it has been more difficult in the military world to open doors to start-ups. However, mentalities have changed so that now the military world is really engaged in the process and also plays the role of accompaniment for start-ups.
Large groups must inevitably increase the speed of their processes. However, efforts still need to be made to combine efficiency, flexibility and funding. To the final question, is it the responsibility of large groups to help start-ups? Stakeholders responded with a big “yes”; however, some companies still need to be aware of it and act accordingly.