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Safran has signed a sponsorship agreement with the ISAE-SUPAERO aeronautical engineering school and its foundation to create a world-class academic center of expertise and research focusing on innovative propulsion architectures. The center will be active in three areas: education and in-service training, research and international development.
The five-year sponsorship agreement, under the responsibility of Xavier Carbonneau, a professor and researcher at ISAE-SUPAERO, will support work on an advanced program that aims to define the major trends in propulsion for the upcoming generations of aircraft. It will address major environmental and economic challenges in the coming years:
- Environmental: significantly reduce the environmental footprint of aircraft engines (fewer emissions and lower noise).
- Economic: increase propulsive efficiency so a given mission can be performed using less fuel and/or carrying more passengers or cargo.
In concrete terms this "Innovative Propulsion Architecture" chair will foster the creation of a new academic center of expertise and research, with global reach and renown.
The educational aspects entail the creation of a portfolio of projects for students following all curriculums at ISAE-SUPAERO (undergraduate engineers, master's and specialized master's degrees).
From the research standpoint, the chair will support a very-high-level publication policy, and finance post-doc and doctoral grants, while also supporting the organization of seminars, workshops and high-level scientific conferences.
The chair will also seek to develop close contacts with the international community working in this cutting-edge field, by inviting professors from abroad, organizing student exchanges, supporting scientific publications, etc.
"With this new chair, Safran is targeting two main goals," commented Pierre Fabre, Safran Executive Vice President, R&T and Innovation. "Within ISAE, we want to develop world-class expertise in propulsion architecture to shed light on the disruptive innovations needed for tomorrow's air transport industry; and we want to give student engineers at ISAE the opportunity to immediately plunge into a major technological challenge for our sector. Through this initiative, Safran is expressing its renewed confidence in a leading training and research institution that plays a major role in feeding our own skills chain."
Olivier Lesbre, CEO of ISAE-SUPAERO, added: "Our school is delighted with the trust-based partnership formed with Safran, a long-term partnership built on expertise and innovation. Following the previous chair formed by this partnership, "Management of Innovative Programs in Aerospace", we are now deploying our resources on innovative propulsion solutions. Together, we will develop a world-class academic center of expertise and research concerning innovative propulsion technologies. In short, ISAE-SUPAERO is resolutely projecting itself into the future by imagining tomorrow's aircraft and systems."
Olivier Zarrouati, President of the ISAE-SUPAERO Foundation, noted, "Our second agreement with Safran confirms the benefits for industry of supporting ISAE-SUPAERO. This new chair is a strong signal, clearly reflecting the outstanding quality of our offering. I am delighted that the ISAE Foundation has been able to support changes in our establishment. Today, one could say that ISAE-SUPAERO is an integral part of this profession."