Safran : announces R&D collaborations with Indian Institutions

29.10.2014
Safran announces R&D collaborations with Indian Institutions

PRESS RELEASE

New Delhi, October 29, 2014

Global Aerospace, Defence, and Security leader Safran announces the Research and Development collaborations with Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer (IIT, Delhi), and Society for Innovation & Development (IISc, Bengaluru) to initiate research and development in the field of advanced avionics systems for the development of next generation aerospace technologies. These two agreements were signed today in the presence of H.E., The French Ambassador to India, Mr. François Richier.

In the initial stage, the projects are slated to involve the development of advanced, safe and secure multicore architectures and the evolution of advanced machine learning algorithms with low computational requirements. The contribution from these projects is expected to significantly enhance advanced avionics and security applications. Safran is looking to develop long-term R&D collaborations with Indian academic and research institutes.

On the occasion of this collaboration, Alain Coutrot, Deputy Director, Research & Technology, Safran, said, "Safran has always been proud of its association with India's aerospace and defence programs. With these collaborations, we look forward to a long and fruitful association with two of India's premier institutes."

"These two partnerships are certainly a great step towards the development of future technology options in both aerospace and security domains in India. It also reinforces Safran's commitment towards India's education sector. The Group employs more than 2600 highly skilled employees in the country with an average annual workforce growth of 30 per cent in the last decade. Over the past years, The Group has proudly embarked on a series of intensive engineering and manufacturing collaborations in the country. Our strategy is in line with the vision of the Honorable Prime Minister "Come to India, Make in India," said Stéphane Lauret, CEO, Safran India.

Dr. Anil Wali, MD, Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer (IIT, Delhi) said on the occasion, "Consistent with our outreach focus, we are happy to initiate this R&D engagement with Safran, one of the major technology-heavy companies of the world."

Chief Executive, Prof. Jayant Modak, Society for Innovation & Development (IISc, Bengaluru) said, "IISc is extremely happy to collaborate with Safran, a leading aerospace company of France. We are indeed pleased that one of our startups, Morphing Machines, is also collaborating with Safran R&D."

Welcoming the signature of these two agreements, Ambassador François Richier said, "I am glad to see prominent French companies like Safran so involved in cooperating on cutting-edge technologies in India. In liaison with the French Embassy, Safran is developing collaborations with prestigious Indian institutions like IIT-Delhi and IISc Bangalore, which is most promising for Indo-French cooperation."

****

Safran is a leading international high-technology group with three core businesses: Aerospace (propulsion and equipment), Defence and Security. Operating worldwide, the Group has 66,300 employees and generated sales of 14.7 billion euros in 2013*. Working alone or in partnership, Safran holds world or European leadership positions in its core markets. The Group invests heavily in Research & Development to meet the requirements of changing markets, including expenditures of 1.8 billion Euros in 2013*. Safran is listed on Euronext Paris and is part of the CAC40 index.
* Sales in 2013 restated for the impacts of IFRS11 amounted to 14.4 billion euros.
Safran has been operating in India for over 60 years. Safran operates in India across its 3 core businesses: delivering effective expertise to the country's growing aerospace industry, along with leading edge navigation and optronics equipment for the defense sector, and biometrics solution for the security market. Over the decades of association, Safran's activities have evolved to include strong local partnerships with Indian military aviation industry based on joint developments, production and support licenses for airplane, helicopter (including the Shakti engine for the Dhruv Helicopter) and rocket engines, landing gear, navigation systems, as well as the associated support services.

For more information, www.safran-group.com / Follow @SAFRAN and @SAFRANINDIA on Twitter.

PRESS RELEASE