Les brèves de l'actualité | 13 septembre 2021

On the same subject

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  May 12, 2021

  StartAéro 360 | Les brèves de l'actualité

  Innovation BDC Capital (5 mai) BDC Capital has launched the “Deep Tech Venture Fund” with an initial $200 million. BDC Capital has said that the fund is interested in space technology. BDC said the fund will “accelerate the development of transformational technologies in a number of sectors including quantum, electronics, photonics, foundational AI and related fields.” In addition to providing access to various funding options, BDC Capital will provide technical experts and facilitate market entry. Airbus (3 mai) Dans le cadre de son projet ZEROe, Airbus étudie trois concepts différents pour les nouveaux avions de ligne qui pourraient entrer en service autour de 2035. Le plus récent d'entre eux concerne une cellule à fuselage intégrée qui serait capable de transporter jusqu'à 200 passagers sur des vols d'environ 3 700 kilomètres. La conception s'appuie sur le modèle Maveric sur lequel Airbus travaille depuis juin 2019. La propulsion repose sur une paire de moteurs à turbine à gaz modifiés alimentés par de l'hydrogène liquide qui serait stocké et distribué via des réservoirs situés derrière la cloison arrière sous pression. Le troisième concept est un double turbopropulseur de 100 places qui comporterait des turbines à gaz modifiées alimentées à l'hydrogène et volerait sur des distances d'environ 1 852 kilomètres. Un démonstrateur d'hydrogène au sol devrait être prêt d'ici la fin de l'année. Spatial Canadian university rocketry teams (3 mai) Two Canadian university rocketry teams, Space Concordia and UBC Rocket, are achieving remarkable results in U.S. competitions. They are competing in the Base 11 Space Challenge, to design, build and launch a liquid-propelled, single-stage rocket to an altitude of 100 km by the end of this year. The prize for reaching this goal is a US$1 million. In the recently completed Preliminary Design Review, Space Concordia took first place and UBC Rocket third. Bishops University (30 avril) The Canadian Space Agency has awarded Bishops University a $1 million contract for the development of technology suitable for a microsatellite mission to explore new exoplanets. This contract is for one of seven priority technologies entitled “Enabling Technologies for the Exploration of New Worlds – microsatellite opportunity”. Drones- Advanced Air Mobility Drone Advisory Committee (6 mai) Transport Canada (TC) has announced the formation of CanaDAC, a “Drone Advisory Committee”. It will serve “as a national forum for industry stakeholders to inform priority policy and regulatory areas of focus for TC.” Wisk Aero/ Blade Urban Air Mobility (5 mai) Wisk Aero, a start-up backed by Boeing and Kitty Hawk, will supply and operate up to 30 of its eVTOLs for Blade Urban Air Mobility's passenger transportation network. Wisk was formed in 2019 when Boeing agreed to combine some of its development work on eVTOLs with a division of Kitty Hawk, the firm started by Google co-founder Larry Page and Sebastian Thrun. Directional Aviation (5 mai) Directional Aviation's OneSky Flight has acquired UK-based Halo Aviation, just months after buying New York City-based Sikorsky S-76 operator Associated Aircraft Group. Directional's longer-term goal is to jump into advanced air mobility, with these acquisitions providing “a platform for the entry into service of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technology”. Textron (5 mai) Textron appears to have ruled out the imminent launch of an urban air mobility (UAM) vehicle, stressing that propulsion systems, and in particular battery technology, have not advanced sufficiently. Earlier this year Textron formed a new division, eAircraft, which brings together relevant expertise from its Textron Aviation, Bell and Textron Systems businesses. Volatus Aerospace (3 mai) Volatus Aerospace is to begin the manufacture of up to 1,200 units of the innovative FIXAR VTOL drone per year at its new facility at the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Oro, Ontario. Volatus' contribution to the venture, including in-Canada production site set-up, business development and technical support is estimated to total approximately $1 million. FIXAR is a Latvian company. Industrie Aérospatiale Héroux-Devtek (6 mai) L'entreprise québécoise Héroux-Devtek va concevoir, développer et construire le système de train d'atterrissage du nouveau jet d'affaires Dassault Falcon 10X et aussi fournir des pièces de rechange et des services après-vente à Dassault Aviation. Thales (6 mai) Thales confirme ses perspectives annuelles de chiffre d'affaires. L'entreprise indique que « la quasi-totalité des lignes de produit enregistre une croissance organique sur le trimestre ». Le chiffre d'affaires trimestriel a augmenté de 1,9% à périmètre constant, à 3,9 milliards d'euros, et les commandes de 31% à 3,4 milliards d'euros. Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X (6 mai) The Pearl 10X that will power the Falcon 10X is based on the Advance2 engine core, combined with a “high-performance low-pressure system”. Its take-off thrust rating will be 18,000lb. It is designed to operate on 100 per cent Sustainable Aviation Fuels. The engine includes combustor tiles, manufactured using an Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) process. CFM International (6 mai) Lancé en juillet 2008, entré en service commercial en août 2016, le programme Leap a équipé 1 400 appareils avec trois modèles de moteurs, le Leap-1A, pour l'A320neo, le Leap-1B pour le Boeing 737 MAX et le Leap-1C pour le Comac C919. Boeing B737-800BCF (5 mai) Boeing will open two 737-800BCF conversion lines with COOPESA in Costa Rica. Boeing forecasts 1,500 freighter conversions will be needed over the next 20 years. 1,080 will be narrowbody conversions, with nearly 30% of that demand coming from North America and Latin America. Spirit Aerosystems deliveries (5 mai) Spirit delivered components for 269 commercial aircraft in the first quarter, 17% fewer than in 2020. This included 29 B737 fuselages, up from 18 in the first quarter of 2020. Spirit is increasing 737 Max production rates in line with Boeing's objective of 31 aircraft per month in 2022. Spirit also increased B767 deliveries to 10 shipsets. Other commercial programmes declined; B787 shipments fell to 14 from 40 in 2020 and Airbus A350 shipments to 12, down from 26. Safran and Pyroalliance (4 mai) Safran Electrical & Power and Pyroalliance will develop a fire-protection system for aircraft electric propulsion systems. They intend to introduce technology that could protect against the threat of an electric arc. Their goal is to have it ready for commercial use in 2023. France's DGAC is providing 50% of the undisclosed budget under the government's Recovery Plan. 2 Airbus Helicopters Flightlab (4 mai) Airbus is introducing autonomous features to its helicopter Flightlab through a project codenamed Vertex. The objectives include simplifying mission preparation and management, reducing helicopter pilot workload, and increasing safety. Technologies to be explored include vision based sensors and algorithms for situational awareness and obstacle detection; fly-bywire for enhanced auto-pilot; and an advanced human-machine-interface in the form of a touchscreen and head worn display for inflight monitoring and control. Airbus Helicopters (30 avril) In the first quarter orders fell by 26 percent to 40 net orders, compared with 54 in 2020. Deliveries reduced by eight to 39 helicopters. The total order backlog dropped 5 percent, to 664 helicopters. EBIT increased 17 percent to $75 million due to increased service revenues and reductions in program and research and development spending.

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  January 6, 2020

  What AIAC’s Vision 2025 could mean for smaller sized enterprises

  by Chris Thatcher; Skies Magazine Posted on December 24, 2019 When the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada in June released its blueprint for the next five years, Vision 2025: Charting a New Course, support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was one of its core themes. Small companies make up over 90 per cent of the sector and the report argued for greater government support to help them scale up, generate more jobs, and enhance their global competitiveness. That could include new funding to pursue digital business transformation, a reduction in the complexity of government contracting, and greater priority in the value propositions of prime contractors chasing defence procurements. “If our small- and mid-sized companies are left at risk, the negative impacts will be felt across Canada's aerospace industry as a whole,” according to the report, prepared by Jean Charest, a former premier of Quebec and deputy prime minister of Canada. Small companies are viewed as the prime creators of aerospace jobs and, in a sector buffeted by changing technology and new players, many may be more agile and better able to adapt than larger counterparts that must answer to corporate headquarters outside of Canada. But support from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and governments is essential to their survival, according to a panel of SMEs at the Canadian Aerospace Summit in November. There is no one-size-fits-all to helping SMEs scale up. Companies at different stages of growth require different types of support, they noted. But help with skilled labour shortages and easier access to government programs are common challenges for all. A solid position on a major platform is critical to initial success, but long-term growth requires diversification, observed Barney Bangs, chief executive officer of Tulmar Safety Systems. Located between Ottawa and Montreal in the small community of Hawkesbury, Ont., the company manufactures protective and safety equipment, associated components and in-flight training products. Traditionally, its focus has been 80 per cent defence — Tulmar has been a supplier to a military platform for over 25 years and benefitted from a strong aftermarket. In recent years, though, the company has sought a better balance between military and commercial customers. “As of last year, we were 65 per cent defence and 35 per cent (civilian) aerospace,” he said. Tulmar has also become more of what he called “a solution provider,” integrating components from other suppliers to provide an OEM with a final, certified piece of equipment such as an aircraft seat rather than just the safety harness or seatbelt. “We are doing more in-house and saving customer-costs for the OEM,” said Bangs. Diversification has also been a priority for Apex Industries, a machining, components, subassembly and structures manufacturer in Moncton, N.B. Twelve years ago, its aerospace business was five per cent defence and 95 per cent civil, much of it geared to Bell Helicopter and Bombardier. “We made a conscious effort to diversify into the military side a lot more,” said vice-president Keith Donaldson. “We are very conscious of not allowing our sales to go too high on one platform or with one customer.” Challenged by cost-savings pressures in commercial aviation contracts, military platforms offer a company like APEX “good visibility,” he said. However, militaries have long been trading quantity for technological superiority, meaning fewer platforms and a relatively short production cycle. And ramping up quickly with people and equipment to meet tight delivery schedules is a challenge for small businesses that need other options to justify and sustain the investment when the contract ends. “It is very tough for a SME like ourselves to invest.” However, defence procurement and government programs can go a long way to supporting the scale-up of SMEs, said Patrick Mann, president of Patlon Aircraft & Industries, a technical sales force for global manufacturers of custom components and systems. The scale-up program must be run by single entity within government committed to the Canadian SME community that would be “funded, independent and have the authority to make decisions.” Mann suggested coping what has worked well in other jurisdictions, noting the success of the United States Small Business Administration's set-aside program. “Within that, there is a small business innovation research program which has been highly successful in scaling up SMEs,” he said. The Vision 2025 report called for a federal scale-up program to “provide advice, coaching, networking, value proposition development and consortium-building support to incentivize growth and build capacity–helping firms expand their global footprints and giving them the means and maturity to support OEMs effectively.” The report recommended the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) within Public Services and Procurement Canada shoulder that responsibility. “Having OSME at the table as a contributor to the development of government procurement strategies and as a champion of small and medium-sized business interests will help ensure government policies and programs recognize the unique characteristics of small firms,” it stated. “We are a pretty good example of a scale-up of an SME using competitive bid government procurement as a mechanism,” said Mann. However, developments over the past 10 years such as single point of accountability and bundling, where multiple small contracts are combined in one larger procurement that is awarded to one contractor, have been “devasting” to smaller suppliers. “It has been a real issue for us. Again, it is an issue where (OSME) can play a role.” OEMs can bolster government programs by mentoring small companies within their supplier base on management and production processes, especially around digitization, added Donaldson. “OEMs have a lot of that knowledge ... [but] I don't think [they] do enough of that.” He and Bangs both cautioned that the ability to scale up will be contingent on resolving talent shortages. Developing and attracting skilled labour is a chronic problem affecting the entire sector, but it is particularly acute for SMEs in more remote locations that don't have the resources to recruit as widely or navigate the immigration system. “Before we launch a scale-up program with support for financing and working capital, we have to make sure we have our skills done first,” said Donaldson. However the Liberal government opts to respond to the Vision 2025 report, the value of investing in SMEs should be clear. Viking Air, KF Aerospace or IMP Aerospace & Defence were once small companies and are “now thriving global participants,” said Mann. “That is the reason why todays SMEs are an important part of our industry.”

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  August 14, 2020

  OVA : AFWerx Fusion

  Recently selected among the finalists for the challenge of "Leveraging Operational Effectiveness Through Technology", OVA presented their new augmented reality solution which allows operators to have more information at their fingertips, but also to improve the detection and anchoring capacity of the Microsoft Hololens 2. For more info please watch the video : https://youtu.be/wyHGMRn1kR8 Or visit their virtual booth : https://fusion.afwerxshowcase.com/exhibitor/ova-inc-8724 Building on recent work scientifically demonstrating the effectiveness of such an approach, we have adopted interdisciplinary human factors and cognitive engineering methods to design and test our innovative solution based on augmented reality (AR). Changes in cognitive load have predictable effects upon physiological measures and provide an objective and non‐obtrusive index of the load imposed upon distinct brain systems with specific functions, while state-of-the-eye metrics (e.g., pupil dilation, and blink rate and duration) can indicate workload and fatigue level. Enhancing the Hololens' tracking and identification capability with artificial intelligence has fixed major flaws in the hardware's adoption by main OEMs.