Innovation: Safran in a prominent position at the Paris Air Lab stand

The Paris Air Lab is an experience revolving entirely around innovation in the aviation, space and digital industries, and the highlights include five virtual reality stands, a showroom for “vehicles of the future”, the “Earth from Above” photo exhibition, and two stages for conferences and pitches all week long.

Safran has a stand showcasing collaborative innovation, for example with Zodiac Aerospace, Price Induction and Turbotech Industrie, and is presenting several breakthroughs involving “Propulsion and Energy”:

• A Safran Power Units fuel cell. These systems at the core of non-propulsive onboard power generation systems release no polluting emissions (CO₂, CO, NOx, particulates). They are also standalone, silent and simple to embed in any new aircraft.
• ArianeGroup, a 50/50 joint venture between Airbus and Safran, is presenting a novel architecture for a hydrogen gas generator from solid-state storage. Over time, hydrogen may become the second fuel powering aircraft thrust.
• Safran is also presenting its research into hybrid turbofans. The DGEN 380, an “all-electric” turbofan by Price Induction, a SME, is currently being used for hybridization tests. The medium-term goal is to upgrade these fans’ performance to include them in high-power turbine-engine configurations like the ones developed by Safran.

Meanwhile, several Safran representatives will be taking part in talks and conferences throughout the week. One of the Paris Air Lab’s goals is to provide a variety of experts with opportunities to speak about these issues in brief conferences, offbeat roundtables and “battle conferences”.

The speakers include:

• Stéphane Cueille, Safran Senior Executive Vice President, R&T and Innovation, will be talking about opportunities to save energy in aviation on June 22 at 3:00 pm;
• Grégoire Aladjidi, Head of Safran Corporate Ventures, will take part in the battle conference on “Does the future of the aerospace industry belong to startups?”, on June 20 at 11:00 am;
• Eric Dautriat, an R&T Manager at Safran and former Director of the Clean Sky European Programme, will be talking with Solar Impulse cofounder and copilot André Borschberg about the prospects for a kerosene-free airspace on June 22 at 4:00 pm.

Lastly, the public is able to enjoy several virtual-reality full-immersion experiences, including POV footage of Thomas Pesquet preparing for his mission on the International Space Station, and of a Patrouille de France pilot.

Practical: The Paris Air Lab stand is in the Concorde Hall at the Air and Space Museum.

* Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales, the French aerospace industries association