AIR TRANSPORT FOR HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL, MASK DONATIONS, STUDENT TUTORING, VISOR PRODUCTION – ISAE-SUPAERO ANSWERS THE CALL FOR SOLIDARITY

FLYING TO SUPPORT AVIATION SANS FRONTIÈRES

In response to the call for solidarity in the aviation industry – and in support of the initiative launched by the NGO Aviation Sans Frontières sponsored by Thomas Pesquet (ISAE-SUPAERO 2001) – Wingly, the European flight sharing platform created by Bertrand Joab-Cornu (ISAE-SUPAERO 2016), has launched a collaborative platform to transport healthcare personnel free of charge to fight against Covid-19.

The business aviation community immediately stepped forward to ensure that this platform would be able to operate smoothly by providing the aircraft, personnel and fuel needed for the flights. ISAE-SUPAERO is participating in this initiative and this Monday helped transport an intensive care physician from Toulouse to Vesoul with the airplane, pilot and mechanics that the Institute made available.

“When Wingly was contacted to build the platform to connect medical staff and the world of business aviation, there wasn’t the slightest hesitation. Seizing the opportunity to contribute our knowledge of digital technologies, the collaborative economy and aviation to a project in the middle of a crisis was a no-brainer for us. We mobilized our web development team directly to create the platform in less than 5 days, including the week-end. It is now ready to participate in the fight against Covid-19.” said Bertrand Joab-Cornu, cofounder of the flight-sharing platform Wingly.

Further information at https://asfcovid.wingly.io/

Donation of 9,000 FFP2 masksARS

Even though the campus has been closed since March 16th, the Institute is getting involved in these actions thanks to the staff working from home and volunteer work by our students. The Institute has responded to the call for solidarity put out by the ARS (Regional Health Agency) by turning over our stock of 9,000 FFP2 masks. The General Secretariat for Administration (SGA) at the Ministry of the Armed Forces authorized the donation of this protective equipment, thus providing support for the healthcare workers dedicated to protecting our fellow citizens. This equipment was initially planned for the fight against the H1N1 virus.

The laboratories at the Departments of Research and Educational Resources (DRRP) have also participated by donating the protective equipment used in the research laboratories and clean rooms to the ARS. This includes masks and all complementary clothing, hairnets, beard masks (for men, to be worn over the mask), overshoes, and powder-free nitrile gloves used for handling space systems.

Anthony Sournac, Research Engineer at the Department of Electronics, Optronics and Signal Processing (DEOS), explained : “In normal times, masks are used when handling so-called “flight” systems in the context of space research. This means all systems coupling the mechanical or electronic parts, sensors and antennas comprising a space instrument, a satellite, etc. Gloves are also indispensable when handling equipment, as the sebum produced by the skin on the hands is also an undesirable pollutant for the equipment.”

Like for human beings, the purpose of the equipment being researched is to avoid having the materials become contaminated by droplets of saliva and steam generated by the operators’ discussions. This moisture from humans can cause oxidation problems on the printed circuit boards and mechanical parts with special surface treatments. It can also cause cell/bacterial pollution, which can be problematic in the case of the search for life elsewhere, such as on Mars. It is very important to limit pollution of these systems here on Earth.

All of this equipment is used at DEOS by the Space Systems for Planetology & Applications (SSPA) research group for the assembly and testing of CubeSats such as Entrysat or for instruments such as the electronics and sensors on the Martian microphone.

Student mobilization

ISAE SUPAERO, through its Diversity Program, in a partnership with INSA Toulouse and the Rectorat (Regional Education Authority), has mobilized its students, PhD candidates, staff and alumni to provide support to high school students in their Junior and Senior years in general education and at technology schools oriented toward the sciences in the Académie de Toulouse. Priority is given to young people whose parents are hard at work in the healthcare services, armed forces, police, firefighters, employees at the prefecture and city halls, in the food services industry, etc., and to families lacking the necessary resources to provide for their child, notably in or near the difficult neighborhoods in the city.

Each high school student receives methodological and educational support from a volunteer tutor for the duration of the quarantine. Sessions are organized by students/professionals for groups of two or three young people, in the form of on-line appointments lasting one hour, twice a week.

To date, more than 120 students, PhD candidates, staff and alumni from the two institutions of higher education have taken part in this solidarity-based ongoing education action. The high school students who are tutored in the Académie de Toulouse can enroll every day and will be joined by students from the Académie de Montpellier School District after vacation. This solidarity-based action will be managed by Julie Devaux, a student in her last year of the ISAE-SUPAERO engineering program.

Alongside this project, a program of remote scientific conferences and sharing of professional experiences will be proposed starting in the week of April 20th to the middle school and high school students supported by ISAE SUPAERO and Polytechnique. A panel of alumni from the two Schools will present an overview of their professions and will give advice to the young people for their career paths.

The InnovSpace prints its desire to help

The Fablab managers who just moved into the new InnovSpace did not want to let their 3D printer and their stock of PLA filament gather dust. They wanted to respond to the need for protective visors expressed in social media by medical and non-medical staff in the fight against the coronavirus’s propagation.

Dan Nguyen, Stéphane Baudru and Luc Patouillard found the plans available from a network of makers so they could produce visors validated by the medical profession.

“For now, we are working on a request from SOS Médecins for some twenty visors. We can produce about ten a day and this is still just symbolic for now, because only the Fablab managers can use the machines and only during the daytime, in compliance with all the required infection control actions. We will distribute them free of charge at the school’s reception area,” said Dan Nguyen, Operations Manager for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.