Future Skills for Europe’s Aerospace and Defence Industry
The conference, co-organised by the European Commission and EDSP members Rzeszow University of Technology and Aviation Valley, took place on 21-22 October 2021 in Rzeszow, Poland.
Building on the work of previous and existing initiatives to tackle skills gaps in the defence sector – from the EDSP to Assets+ and the Aerospace & Defence Pact for Skills – the event explored, from a knowledge triangle perspective, challenges and opportunities for cross-border collaboration for skills providers, European policies supporting skills development, and industry future needs.
Participants attended also business-to-business (b2b) meetings, visited technical labs and important production plants in the area.
The conference offered the opportunity to
- Collect information about skills needed by the industry;
- Collect information about activities undertaken by aerospace and defence industry and skills providers;
- Disseminate info about ongoing projects and initiatives adapting education and training programmes to the needs of the industry;
- Raise awareness on the Aerospace & Defence Pact for Skills and how it engages with regions;
- Launch the 2nd edition of the European Defence Student Challenge;
- Meet students undertaking new training modules created by Assets+ project;
- Meet in person and discuss plenty of topics not easy to be discussed online;
- Consider aligning our targets taking into consideration the following:
- In the fast-changing world, the future might not be based on the same technology of today, and this calls for adjustments in skills. The pandemic forces us to adjust even faster.
- The skills profile of the future employee needs to maintain a good balance between creativity and agility, but also between rational and emotional intelligence. Technical and soft skills are equally important. Digital and soft skills are today essential to complete the employee’s profile.
- Dialogue with the industry is key for universities and VETs to produce tomorrow’s workforce. In building new skills, the specificities of the young generations need to be taken into consideration.
- The perception of aerospace & defence as an employer is essential and today its attractiveness is diminishing (e.g. green and security considerations). There are important initiatives and actions in place, and there is room for more at all levels.
- Regions play a key role in staffing the industry and creating talents. The Podkarpackie Region is a best practice. The Pact for Skills is well placed to mobilise regions and prepare future projects.
- The amount of available programmes and funds has never been so significant. We are in the right time and in the right position to reach out for them in order to build skills.
For more information, go to the event's official website.
Programme
Day 1 - Thursday 21 October 2021
08.30 Registration and welcome coffee
09.00 Welcome by Jarosław Sęp - Vice-Rector for Development and Business Cooperation - Rzeszów University of Technology
09.30 EU policy on skills in aerospace and defence industry
Elektra Tsigaridas, European Commission
10.00 Challenges for aerospace and defense industries in the post-Covid era
Marek Darecki, Aviation Valley Association
Renata Markowska, Marcin Pietrzak, MTU Aero Engines Polska
11.00 Coffee Break
11.30 ASSETS+ Project: Alliance for Strategic Skills addressing Emerging Technologies in Defence
Gualtiero Fantoni, Filippo Chiarello, University of Pisa
11.50 The European Defence Student Challenge
Liga Baltina, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, Mateo Burgos-Garcia, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid
12.00 Walking tour in Rzeszów University of Technology Laboratories – skills-building venues for the aerospace and defence industry
13.15 Networking Lunch
14.15 SESSION 1: Challenges for skills providers
Panel discussion
Moderated by Andrzej Majka
Eric Grivel, IMS lab, Bordeaux INP - University of Bordeaux
Susana Nogueira, European Welding Federation
Lucyna Pasternak, WSK "PZL-Świdnik S.A." - Leonardo Helicopters
Wojciech Depczyński, Kielce University of Technology
Geert De Cubber, Royal Military Academy of Belgium
15.30 – 16.30 Examples of activities building future skills at European level relevant for the Aerospace & Defence industry
15.30 Aerospace & Defence Pact for Skills - How regions and Member States can contribute to the Pact?
Antoine Feral, Rolls-Royce
15.45 Upskilling and Reskilling policies in companies’ business and technological strategy
Carlos Maio, QSR - Talent Driven Culture
15.55 SAM: Sector Skills Strategy for Additive Manufacturing
Susana Nogueira. EWF European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting
16.05 PLANET4: Practical Learning of Artificial intelligence on the Edge for industry 4.0
Grzegorz Dec, Rzeszów University of Technology
16.15 EDURES: Technology education in the digital era supported by the significant use of research results
Roman Wdowik, Rzeszów University of Technology
16.25 Questions & Answers
16.30 End of day 1
18.30 Dinner
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Day 2 - Friday 22 October 2021
08.30 Welcome coffee
Beata Skibińska, National Agency for the Erasmus+and ESC programmes
09.20 Other programs supporting trainings and skills improvement
Maciej Szalacha, Rzeszów University of Technology
09.45 SESSION 2: Technical skills development and improvement
Panel discussion
Moderated by Tomasz Rogalski
Mateusz Roszkiewicz, PGZ - Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa S.A. (a capital group of Polish defence industry)
Peter Nielsen, Aalborg University
Przemysław Kupidura, Military University of Technology, Warsaw
Sophie Pawletko, Benoit Consolini, Aerocampus Aquitaine
Jan Sawicki, Safran Transmission Systems Poland
11.00 Coffee Break
11.30 SESSION 3: Soft and digital skills required by aerospace and defence industry
Panel discussion
Moderated by Dorota Stadnicka
Mirosław Basiak, Aero Gearbox International Poland
Mirosław Surowaniec, Huta Stalowa Wola
Tomasz Gałaczyński, Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze Sp. z o.o.
Jose Maria de Fuentes, Charles III University of Madrid
Jacek Czarnigowski, Lublin University of Technology
12.45 Sky 4.0: Soft Skills 4.0 for the new challenges in European Aerospace Industry
Andrzej Rybka, The Aviation Valley Association
12.55 Wrap up
13.00 Networking Lunch and B2B meetings
14.30 Industrial Visit
Video highlights
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