Industry Experts address technology challenges at Altran Innovation Conference
The Altran Innovation Conference took place on 7 February 2007 and was attended by over 230 people, including European Commission officials, MEPs, Altran officials and industry experts. The conference covered the themes of Energy, Transport, Space, Security, Innovation and ICT and presented Altran’s capabilities in establishing and executing collaborative research projects in Europe and elsewhere. The covered technologies included renewable energy, energy efficiency, trans-European transport networks, clean and sustainable surface transport, nuclear fission and fusion, hydrogen fuel and fuel cells amongst others. In his address to the conference, Mr du Chaisemartin highlighted the need to improve the environment for attracting and maintaining talented researchers and experts in Europe. He added “For more than 20 years Altran has been committed to offer great jobs and scientific careers to engineers and researchers. In 2007 we will create more than new 1000 jobs in Europe, all these positions are, of course, with permanent contracts. Furthermore, we should find solutions together so that talented researchers and experts benefit from the same financial standard of living in Europe than in the US. I know the planned (EIT) European Institute for Technology will be an important step in this direction. I call for specific action plan, like for example a special tax policy for talented researchers and experts.” Mr du Chaisemartin also stated his company’s support of the Competitiveness Council’s commitment to increasing the level of investment in R&D in Europe whereby all benefit from innovation. Altran teams have been involved in the preparation of the FP7 and want to continue their engagement regarding: independent evaluation, validation and expertise, programmes coordination and management and innovation process management. Representatives of a range of technology-based organisations attended the conference, including Hilson Moran, EADS, Cambridge Consultants, the European Patent Office, UTC, INTA, BERATA, the Military University of Technology, Arthur D. Little, Praxis, Thales, the French National Space Research Centre and the European Space Agency. A variety of innovations developed by the Altran Group and partners were presented. These included “prism 200”, a support tool for military and civilian security personnel created by Cambridge Consultants. The tool enables the user to detect the movements of people the other side of walls and is both lightweight and effective for up to 20 metres. The second innovation was Solar Impulse; an aeroplane capable of flying day and night on solar energy, charging lightweight lithium batteries during the day and flying off their energy at night. As well as these there was the Maxxun contribution of Luminescent Solar Concentrators which hope, by 2012, to be able to compete alongside fossil fuels as an economically viable alternate source of eco-friendly energy. Other innovations included the “Anybook” an e-book which uses no energy except while downloading books, the “Haulbee”, a drone capable of flying at speeds of up to 200km/h while carrying a 3kg payload and a device capable of autonomously regulating diabetes. Unveiled at the conference was the winner of the Ecobuilding Forum of 8 – 9 November 2006. This concept, a type of communal organic recycling centre, is solar powered, gathers rain water, harvest methane (in turn used to power the square’s lights), and fertilizes the flora. For more information on the conclusions of this conference, please visit: http://www.iscintelligence.com/index.php?page=55 About Altran: Altran is the European leader in high technology and innovation consulting. The group’s 16,000 consultants worldwide bring together the entire range of engineering and consulting fields: electronics, information technology, quality and organization. They assist corporations throughout the innovation process, ranging from technological monitoring, applied fundamental research, preparation for production, right through to manufacturing processes, serving most business sectors: automotive, aeronautics, space, telecommunications and energy. Founded in 1982, Altran operates in 20 countries. Altran had a turnover of €1,430 million in 2005. www.altran.com Press contact Pascale Lardin, Altran, European Affairs Manager Tel : +32 (0)2 737 68 11 Mob : +33 (0)6 72 14 33 27 plardin@altran.net Declan Kirrane, ISC Intelligence in Science Tel: +32 (02) 401 61 44 declan.kirrane@iscintelligence.com
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