Testimonials

Alexandre Leconte,

continuous improvement manager for gears.

When did you join Hispano-Suiza? I joined Hispano-Suiza in December 2007, right after finishing an internship at Airbus. This was after getting my degree from the Supmeca engineering school, majoring in mechanical engineering and production systems.

What are your responsibilities? I’m in charge of continuous improvement on the gear production line, with responsibility for developing and leading improvement plans. My job is to come up with concrete actions in the field to help meet the company’s objectives in terms of reducing costs and lead-times, while also improving quality. With this in mind, I’m heavily involved in the company’s Creativity initiative, which involves spotlighting good ideas and initiatives in the field, and passing them back to management. That’s one of the main channels for innovation at Hispano-Suiza and within the Safran group – a sort of “trademark” you might say!

I carry out a wide variety of tasks, and work with many different functions, including quality, methods, production management and accounting. I don’t have any direct management responsibility, but I regularly lead cross-disciplinary working groups, which is a very enriching experience.

And why did you choose Hispano-Suiza? Since starting my engineering degree, I wanted to work in aerospace, and I wanted to join an international group like Safran. I chose Hispano-Suiza for its high-tech products, as well as for the quality of the positions they offered.

How do you see your career path? With Hispano-Suiza, I have received training in the Lean-Sigma approach, and also as a Black Belt (specialist in this methodology). Today, I’m in charge of projects to reduce cycles and improve product quality. For the moment, I will stay on this path, and then I want to transition to a management position.

Rachid Boudyaf,

power electronics expert

When did you joint Hispano-Suiza? I started in April 2004 as an intern in Safran’s center of power electronics expertise, SPEC, right after earning my degree from the Ensem electrical and mechanical engineering school in Nancy, majoring in electrical engineering and power electronics.

What were your initial assignments? I joined the Power Optimized Aircraft (POA) team in Colombes, where I carried out electrical equipment integration tests and aircraft electrical network characterization tests on the Copper Bird® rig. Thanks to this project, which brings together people from throughout the European aviation industry, I was able to work in a multi-partner environment, and meet a number of experts in airborne electrical systems. Then in 2006 I worked on the electrification of nacelle functions as a system design engineer. The results of these projects are now being applied to our proposals for engines on tomorrow’s single-aisle jets.

Why did you choose Hispano-Suiza? Aerospace is a fascinating sector. I’ve always been attracted by research, and by the possibility of applying new electromechanical and power electronics solutions for automated systems. Today, what motivates me most is drawing up the proposal, since this phase includes both technical and commercial aspects, along with regular customer contacts. It’s a fascinating process to build up a proposal step by step, achieving the best tradeoff between performance and cost.

How do you see your career path? The creation of Safran Power, a new Hispano-Suiza division, which I am now part of, shows that Safran fully intends to be a major player in onboard electrical systems and power electronics. I want to continue along this path and bring our development projects up to certification.