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“Aerospace & Defense Meetings” in Turin, Capital of Aerospace

“Aerospace & Defense Meetings” was held in Turin, Italy, March 19-20, 2008, inside the imposing Oval Lingotto palace. It was the first international convention dedicated to the aerospace and defense industry to be staged in Italy. The event has been officially inaugurated by Mercedes Bresso, President of the Piemonte Regional Government.

Unexpected numbers were registered: 1.000 professionals: 450 representing the 200 companies present as suppliers, and 200 for the enterprises registered as buyers, in addition to all the visitors that attended the conferences and the workshops.

A great success brought in the Oval Lingotto palace by the Turin Chamber of Commerce, and very well organized by the Piemonte Agency for Investments, Export and Tourism in collaboration with BCI Business Conventions International, Piedmont Aerospace District Promoting Committee, Turin City Council, Turin Province, Piemonte Regional Government, and AIAD (Italian Industries Association for Aerospace System and Defense).

At its first edition, “Aerospace & Defense Meetings” had more exhibitors than the long-standing Aerosolutions (Bordeaux/France) and highlighted the technological edge of the Italian aerospace companies within the international scenario. Foreign companies represent 38% of the participating entities, including 40 French and 30 German companies. Italy was represented by 130 companies engaged in the various fields of the sector.

Some of the major international players joined the Turin event: Finmeccanica, Alenia Aeronautica, Aermacchi, Piaggio Aero, Thales Alenia Space, Selex Galileo, AgustaWestland, Boeing, Eads, Dassault Aviation, Northrop Grumman, Tupolev, Messier Dowty, Avio, Pratt & Whitney, Microtecnica and Elbit. The Italian aerospace poles, located in the regions of Piemonte, Lombardia, Campania and Lazio, were also present. The stand of Politecnico di Torino has demonstrated the important function of this top public university in the sector.

According to ASD - the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe – the European specific sector, in 2006, had a revenue of 121 billion Euro (+ 7,17% in comparison to 2005) with 638.000 jobs (+ 3,90% over 2005).

In Italy, the aeropspace industry is the main integrated technology sector, with a value of 8 billion Euro in 2006 and a work force of 39.000. Research and Development investments total 14-15% of the combined revenue. The qualified participation to international programmes and the level of experience resulted in securing important contracts, placing Italy as the sixth Aeropsace power worldwide, and fourth at European level.

Choosing Turin as the host of Aerospace & Defense meetings is not casual. Capital city of Piemonte, North Western Italian region at the border line with France traditionally dedicated to the aerospace sector, Turin boasts a great industrial history and an enormous wealth of knowledge and technology. The aeronautical industry is well-established in Piemonte and is worldwide appreciated. The region has a particularly rich industrial fabric composed of around 400 companies - including firms with great expertise developed over the years and 5 international players (Thales Alenia Space, Alenia Aeronautica, Avio, Selex Galileo, Microtecnica) – and employs around 10.000 people, recording a turnover of 1,8 billion Euro. The territory is the cradle of the Italian aeronautical industry, and boasts an extraordinary upsurge in aerospace science and technology for air defense, passenger transport and the conquest and use of space.

A total of 21 appointments, counting workshops and conferences, were attended by a high number of visitors. In particular, the conference “Virtual Design and Virtual Testing”, which was part of the “Torino 2008 - World Design Capital” calendar, registered 350 participants, 200 of whom had not subscribed to “Aerospace & Defense Meetings”. Protagonists of the event: Alenia Aeronautica, Avio, Boeing, Phantom Works, Selex Galileo and Thales Alenia Space. They analyzed together the new challenges and potentialities of the application of the virtual reality to design and testing, that plays an increasing role in the scenario of the international aerospace industry.

“Aerospace & Defense Meetings”, which confirmed the technological excellence and the competitive position of the Italian aerospace industries, and especially the Piedmontese ones, will come back next year, and then become biannual from 2011 onwards, rotating with the Aeromart in Tolouse.

In the picture: A partial view of the first edition of Turin’s “Aerospace & Defense Meetings”, at Oval Lingotto palace, March 19-20, 2008. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, March 2008)