ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES
NEW TECHNOLOGIES 244-465-AB
C-0017

SUSTAINABILITY (with Jim Banks)

Sustainability is the capacity to endure, to last, and to make conscious decisions that will allow for the well being of the future.

Mr. Jim Banks, a senior employee at Bombardier Canada, came to John Abbott College to lead a talk about the role that bombardier plays in Canada. He also came to speak about issues with fossil fuels and its consumption, and our sustainability; how we are now making important decisions that will try to ensure a bright and healthy future for us and our planet.

He began his presentation by first talking about himself. He started out as a technician, much like us students. He was given the chance to work with NASA as a draftsman, eventually designing some electronic enclosures for the international space station.

Bombardier is the Canadian leader in transportation. They are also the third largest civil aircraft manufacturers in the world. Their head office is in Montreal, and they also employ tens of thousands of employees in all corners of the globe. Bombardier is a leader in design and production of smaller business jets, regional jets, turboprops, and amphibious planes. Bombardier also produces trains and other land transport. Jim Banks emphasized to us that when designing any type of transportation; its environmental impacts and sustainability are of utmost importance.

Bombardier is known for its history of innovation. In the last twenty-one years they have introduced a surprising twenty-seven different aircraft, each time improving aerodynamics, fuel efficiency, emissions or wing composition, etc. They began with the CRJ in 1989, creating a new market for the industry. There was no such thing as a ‘regional jet’ (RJ) before Bombardier came up with it. They saw an opportunity for a smaller business size plane that would shuttle small amounts of people (≈50) between cities. This became a very lucrative endeavor for them.

Jim Banks told us all about the design procedure of creating an aircraft. There is a method used in the industry called multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO). It is essentially a collaboration of the design sector as a whole to work as one on a project, contrasting the traditional design practice of having teams of engineers working on individual systems and then bringing them all together. It is a complex method where all relevant areas of the process are worked on at the same time. This has been found to produce the best results. No doubt, it does have its setbacks, including a much more complicated work environment, however it is what allows for them to be so successful. Their main weapon in the business is their design foresight. Rather than focusing on short-term, highly lucrative goals, they focus on future benefits. Bombardier’s design foresight process includes; foresight (to explore and discuss possible scenarios), insight (reflect on past endeavors and anticipate what will happen next in the market) and action (plan new strategies, implement new requirements, and make robust decisions bringing new opportunities).

The need for design foresight in all major industries is essential to success. We need design foresight to be able to create things that make sense now and that will make sense in the future. There is a short-term mindset that drives the business word. It is constantly about the quarterly revenue, or yearly revenue, but how about in ten years from now. Short-term oriented goals will not pay off in the grand scheme of things. It is the long-term effects that we need to be anticipating.

The benefits of design foresight are numerous. They create a culture based on ‘future thinking’ and of inspired innovation. That adds more confidence to mid-to-long term business plans & risks, which is needed to have success in the future. Design foresight also improves organizational agility (anticipation & responsiveness to change).
Jim told us that the purpose of foresight is not so much to predict the future, but to make robust decisions in the present to reach our goals. The problem with many companies now is that they know their goals for the future, however they do not actually want to put in the time and money now to get there. What are they actually doing is looking after the short-term stuff, and will maybe never reach the vision of themselves they have for the future.

Bombardier’s unique foresight process includes, using foresight to explore and discuss new ideas, using insight to reflect and anticipate, and using action to implement strategies that bring new requirements, employing robust decisions towards long-term goals.

What I got most from Jim was that sustainability all starts with design. He told us that design is the most critical stage in a products life because 60 - 80% of product lifecycle environmental impacts are locked in at this beginning stage. If you are designing a Corvette as opposed to a Smart Car, we can see that the initial design will greatly affect the final product. In other words, if you design a vehicle to be efficient, it will remain efficient. We can see in the product development graph on the left exactly what Jim was talking about.

Design also plays a huge role in manufacturing. About 50% of a Boeing 787 is made of carbon fiber reinforced composites. By designing pieces out of composite materials, the aircraft weight is reduce and up to 1,500 aluminum sheets & 40,000 - 50,000 fasteners can be eliminated.

Bombardier is always examining its aircraft, learning from them and using this information to design the new era of planes. We are lucky to be living in a time where technology is expanding so quickly. I found Jim’s talk about autonomous airplanes to be very interesting. I think that I would feel confortable in a plane that was flying itself. In a way, it could be much safer than leaving it up to humans.

Jim’s talk was interesting and insightful. It was very fun learning about bombardier aerospace, as well as design foresight and the future transportation.