Yesterday, on the annual Thanksgiving dinner of USAIRE in Paris, I was awarded the second place in the student award competition of 2009! The aim of this year’s contest was to study how the aerospace world of 2050 will look like, and write a 10-page paper about this. The official title was ‘What will the civil and military space look like in 2050? What consequences will this have on our industry’s competitiveness and innovation ambitions?’
USAIRE is a 50-year old association of American and European companies focused on aerospace and advanced technologies. Members include Airbus, Boeing, Dassault, EADS, Eurocopter, Lockheed Martin, Northtrop Grumman, Raytheon, Rolls-Royce, Thales and many more. The Thanksgiving dinner took place at the Cercle d’Union Interalliée, in the very centre of Paris, close to Place de la Concorde. After the dessert, it was time for the announcement of the results.
And second place it was. Prizes include two tickets Paris – New York on Air France, a Panasonic Toughbook, a cheque from USAIRE (and a very generous one at that), and a year long subscription to both Air & Cosmos and Aviation Week and Space Technology. Yes, I’m very happy 
You can find the full text here (pdf, 10mb), or enjoy the summary: (more…)