Mexico has a promising future in aerospace as the country is now consolidating its expertise. One of Safran’s greatest contributions to the local industry, beyond generating employment and foreign investment, is education. In response to its importance, we are developing joint education programs with UNAQ, in which students learn theory at the university and get practical experience at our plants. We also can send some of them to our plants in France with support from the Mexican government. We are forging a generation that will shape the Mexican aerospace future.

CENALTEC was founded to support local manufacturing, enhancing the competitiveness of local workers through cutting-edge technology programs. Foreign companies establishing in the state reported a lack of human capital for their local operations and as more aerospace companies arrived in Chihuahua, demand for these educational services kept increasing. Honeywell, for instance, predicted demand for about 1,000 machining technicians but could only find about 50 in the state. Their team flagged the problem, and together we started developing a model to provide the technicians they needed. To date we have trained 1,300- 1,400 technicians. Our training courses are recognized by the European American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the local Ministry of Education (SEP), the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) and several academic institutions.

Aerospace Alliance collaborates closely with national and international education institutions. We have a project with universities from the US and Europe to develop nonferrous materials including titanium and composites. We have developed about eight projects and trained over 1,300 people. Generating qualified professionals, including operators, maintenance technicians and engineers in targeted areas is critical to address the existing gaps between technicians and engineers. As we come to understand local human capital demographics and join forces to complete the first state-owned Training Center for Advanced Technology (ICAT) in Mexicali and Tijuana, it is also necessary to align university programs geared toward aerospace.

A long history of industry in Mexico sets the foundation for aerospace companies to build on manufacturing activities that have existed since the 1970s. Such a deeply rooted industrial culture has manifested in plenty of transferable talent. However, as we developed activities here, we recognized a need to contribute to training the local talent base. Therefore, Zodiac Aerospace has collaborated with local universities to develop courses suited to our engineering needs, and to train young talent through innovative projects at our facilities. The talent pool is as important to us as the supply chain. There are many initiatives in place to strengthen local industry via Chihuahua’s Aerocluster, especially in the MRO segment.