Christophe Aufrère is SVP & Group CTO, Faurecia. He also sits on the FISITA Executive Board and holds the position of VP Technical providing leadership to the Technical Committee.
Christophe is in charge of defining the key technologies Faurecia will address in the future and to follow their implementation at the global level. He is also responsible for managing and developing the expertise network throughout the entire R&D organization and the academic partnerships.
In this Q&A, Christophe discusses the key technical topics that FISITA committees are addressing, looking at the challenges and opportunities in these areas, as well as how FISITA membership can help the industry develop solutions.
What does your FISITA role involve?
I think that being part of an overarching organization like FISITA is a real chance. You can benefit from a global view on the technical activities, you can exchange with high-level decision-making people on the future of mobility and key trends which will shape our industry. I see my role within the FISITA as a trigger concerning the technology trends and the awareness of the potential winning technologies which will impact our industry within the next 10 years. On the other hand, the involvement of the Society members is key, so enrolling them is a must. Finally, my last point is on the relationships to be developed with the Industry Committee and the Educational Committee which must converge together towards mutual understanding of the technical evolutions and the consequences on the industry and on the education.
What are the key technical and educational topics that your committee is addressing?
The technology is moving fast and so are the mobility solutions. Within the Technical Committee we are concentrated on new energies and electrification (including energy recovery or onboard energy creation), data and data management including sensors, AI, and communication technologies. Then we have all the material aspects (new materials, smart materials, nano materials…) including dematerialization and the biomimicry topics as well as human machine interfaces (HMI) which are moving fast and potentially being revolutionized in the future as the car will become more automated. The last theme is related to the circular economy and the associated technologies which will enable the industry to get the right level of circularity. For education, it’s important to anticipate the new technologies and the associated training but what is also important is to enable the young engineers to be better integrated when they get their first job.
What are the main challenges and opportunities in these areas?
The main challenge is to raise the awareness around the continuous change of technologies, the importance of the data, the CO2 neutrality and the end user experience and value.
How can FISITA membership help the industry develop these solutions?
Membership can give access to the awareness of the future technologies and their forecasted performance, to the evolution of mobility and to the geographical differences related to local realities that FISITA can bring, as it’s a global organization.
How can people participate, and how would they benefit from joining the committee?
Depending on the technical topics we want to tackle we have the possibility to include any member to deal with the topics. The members will benefit from common discussions and assessments of the technologies and common view on the road maps. Furthermore, exchanges on mobility trends will shape the reasoning of each member in order for them to prepare their own strategy/actions within their company or their academic organization.
Anyone interested in FISITA membership can contact my FISITA colleague Kelly Williams to find out more.
