Last week on June 19-15th, members of the Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship department at Centennial College attended the 54th International Paris Air Show 2023, the world's premier and largest event for aerospace and aviation. The college was represented by Jonathan Hack, Dean, Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Eric Blaise, Director of Applied Research and Innovation, Glen Lowry, Associate Vice-President of Applied Research, HyFlex Learning and Academic Partnership as well as Andrew Petrou, Director of Strategic Initiatives and External Relations (SIER) and Executive Director of Downsview Aerospace Innovation and Research (DAIR). Centennial College was exhibited at the Downsview Aerospace Innovation & Research (DAIR) Hub booth along with Toronto Metropolitan University and Toronto Region Board of Trade - showcasing our state-of-the-art facilities, equipment and innovation capabilities in aerospace applied research and especially our recently-completed Landing Gear Innovation Lab.
At the Show on Monday June 19th, François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced a $350M investment to advance green aviation and sustainable aerospace technologies and "support Canada's new Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Technology (INSAT) aimed at accelerating the green industrial transformation of the aerospace industry." Considering Centennial College’s longstanding history as an academic leader in aviation and aerospace and how our applied research and innovation activity is mapped against the SDG framework, this announcement and investment comes at a highly opportunistic time to deepen and enrichen our commitment to advance sustainable innovation. Attending such a global conference of fellow innovators was an incredible opportunity to learn about and explore the latest technologies taking flight in the industry. We saw fascinating new urban mobility concepts on display such as the City Airbus NextGen from Airbus, Renault Group’s AIR4, Midnight by Archer, and EHang’s Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) AH216. We also saw various green aviation technologies such as the EcoPulse, an aircraft flying later this year with a distributed hybrid propulsion system developed by DAHER, Safran and Airbus. This technology will reduce air and noise pollution, contributing to the air transportation sector's decarbonization objectives. Such drones, electric aircraft, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVOTL) aircraft and flying cars are all examples of innovations that advance future transportation and mobility.
After the Paris Air Show concluded, Jonathan Hack and Glen Lowry also visited the French city of Toulouse, home to the headquarters of Airbus and named “Aerospace Valley”, the European capital of aeronautics – a cluster of aerospace engineering companies and research centres. They received a thorough presentation by the École Nationale de L’Aviation Civile (ENAC) – Europe’s #1 aviation university with world-renowned expertise in engineering, flight and air navigation – and met with a representative from the University of Toulouse. Along the way, they passed by the state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities at ONERA (The French Aerospace Lab).
With newfound inspiration, newly-formed connections and renewed perspectives on the importance of sustainable aviation, we are ready to take Centennial College’s aerospace and aviation applied research and innovation to the next level. We look forward to working with our industry partners to advance sustainable aviation technologies, and can’t wait to see how Centennial College can play a part in the next generation of aerospace and aviation!