Delegation from the École de Guerre Terre visits AeroAstro

Delegates from France’s École de Guerre debate program visited the AeroAstro department in February to explore programs and learn about the role of aerospace in national security from faculty experts. The French War College trains and educates France’s mid-career officers from all branches of France’s armed forces.

The visit began with a presentation from Lt.Col. Moussa Ouedraogo, a pilot in the French Air and Space Force, on “Aviation in National Security.”

“For us engineers, we often concentrate on developing machines that are harder, better, faster, and stronger. We often forget or neglect the actual needs of the end-user. In this case, we are flight engineers, and Lt. Col. Ouedraogo, as a pilot, is the end user. It was indeed interesting to hear stories from the user side, such as his experience in the conflict zone, or how the actual airmen train themselves to ever-changing environments” said PhD student Heekun Roh (ESL) following the presentation.

Prof. Dan Hastings met with the delegation for a discussion and knowledge sharing session. “We had an excellent discussion on current military affairs as seen from a French perspective,” said Hastings.

Following a tour of the department, the delegation also met with Prof. Olivier de Weck andAssociate Department Head Kerri Cahoy to learn about their research focus areas and gain insights into the unique ways education and innovation at MIT AeroAstro overlaps with military needs.