The President's greetings

My dear friends,

The year 2023 has just come to a close. An exceptional year, and one we can be proud of in many respects for our 3AF Learned Society!

Indeed, if we take a first look at some of our achievements over the past year :

• Our Technical Commissions were again very productive, continuing their work and distinguishing themselves in particular by organizing conferences such as Aéro2023 and the resumption of a conference on Intellectual Property and Innovation, organized in October with the support of our New Aquitaine Regional Group.
• Our colloquia were a resounding success, with a particularly rich program and a high level of participation that seem to reflect a recovery from the COVID years. Of particular note was the success of the 15th edition of IAMD, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in Porto in May 2023, and that of the second edition of our Combat Aéroterrestre 2035 conference, held in Versailles on November 14 and 15, whose attendance jumped by over 70%!
• We extended our presence nationwide, notably by signing an agreement with the EDEN Cluster, which now represents 3AF in the Auvergne -Rhône Alpes region, and by setting up a regional delegation in the Bretagne-Pays de Loire region.
• On the social networking front, traffic on our website rose by 50% over the year as a whole, crossing the threshold of 12,000 monthly visits and 11,000 visitors. The number of subscribers to our linkedIn page also rose in 2023.
• In accordance with the resolutions adopted at our Annual General Meeting on July 6, we have set up our own structure, 3AF Events, dedicated to the organization of conferences, which 3AF will be able to take advantage of from 2024 onwards.

These factors should lead to very good results for our association, confirming a return to solid equilibrium after some difficult years.

And the year 2024 also presents some exciting prospects, signs of 3AF's great vitality, among which we can mention :

• A record schedule, with more than eight symposia organized during the year. January sets the tone, with the workshop co-organized with the SFEN (Société Française d'Energie Nucléaire) on the theme of nuclear power for the benefit of the space sector, the conference on the Transportation of Tomorrow organized with our partners from the Musée de l'AIR et de l'Espace and the University of Paris Nanterre, followed by the OPTRO 2024 conference organized in Bordeaux. Not forgetting Space Propulsion 2024 in Glasgow and the 2024 edition of ERF (European Rotorcraft Forum) in Marseille;
• Continuing to set up a structure dedicated to symposia, which we will be reinforcing;
• The conversion of our website into a bilingual English/French version, enabling us to communicate more effectively with our international audience;
• The 3AF Awards, which will be presented at our next Annual General Meeting at the end of June.

In 2024, I'd also like to give particular priority to attracting new members, especially younger ones.

Indeed, making ourselves useful for the benefit of our sectors - thinking in particular of our youngest members - preparing for the future by taking account of major developments, technological breakthroughs and societal trends is at the heart of the raison d'être of our Association and Learned Society 3AF.

Against a backdrop of accelerating corporate transformations, profound geopolitical shifts, and the rise of new technologies - particularly Artificial Intelligence - it's a safe bet that all professions in the aerospace industry will undergo major changes. Now more than ever, our youngest members need our insight to guide them towards and into the professional world.

The entire 3AF team wishes you all the best for 2024!

We wish you all, on a personal level, good health and many joys shared with your loved ones, and on a professional level, happiness and success in everything you undertake.

Best regards,

Louis LE PORTZ

Chairman of 3AF