The Solar Impulse Press Conference in Zurich, Switzerland

The Solar Impulse Press Conference in Zurich,

Part II – The Day of the Press Conference

November 5th, 2007

I got a very good night’s rest after all the walking I had done on Sunday, and was ready for the big press conference event on Monday.  After breakfast, I met with my contacts at Omega in the lobby, and we took a limo out to Dübendorf airfield near Zurich, Switzerland  – the site where “HB-SIA” (the official designation for the Solar Impulse plane) is being designed and built.  Upon arrival, I checked in and had my media credentials verified and found a seat close to the stage.

Here’s a photo of the stage prior to the starting of the press conference:

Here’s a shot of HB-SIA under wraps:

Soon other members of the “International Press” began arriving – journalists from all around the world had been invited to attend:

The press conference was both televised and webcast around the world:

Bertram Piccard was the first to be introduced – he’s the initiator of the Solar Impulse project, and its President:

Next up was André Borschberg – the CEO of the Solar Impulse project:

Both men spoke quite passionately about the project, and the need for projects like Solar Impulse to challenge mankind’s pioneering spirit and contribute to the development of transportation which cheaper and more eco friendly than fossil fuels.

At this point, the CEO’s of the companies who are both sponsoring and partnering with the Solar Impulse team to make the dream of a non-stop solar powered airplane flight around the world possible came up on stage.  Much to my surprise, Swatch Group founder and Chairman (the Swatch Group owns Omega) Nicholas Hayek, lead by his son, Swatch Group President and CEO Nicholas Hayek, Jr. came up to the stage.

Once all the CEO’s of the partnering companies were gathered on the stage, it was time to unveil the scale model of HB-SIA:

Both Nicholas Hayek Sr. and Jr. spoke about the project and why they’ve taken the role they have taken in helping to make the dream of solar powered flight a reality.

At this point in the press conference, they opened the floor to questions from the journalists on hand.  If you go to the SOLAR IMPULSE WEB SITE, and then click on the” breaking news” section in grey, you can view the webcast of the press conference in its entirety.  If you move to about the 49 minute mark, you might just hear the question asked by a certain American journalist from Chronos Magazine.The end of the Q&A session also brought a conclusion to the main portion of the event.  But for me, the day was far from over.  Next on the agenda were my interviews – first with the President of Omega, Stephan Urquart :

I then spoke with Nicholas Hayek, Jr.

Finally, I got to speak with the “savior of the Swiss watch industry” himself, Nicholas Hayek, Sr. It was both an honor and a thrill:

After the interviews were complete, I went back in the the areas were the engineering teams had set up some examples of their work.  I first was treated to an animated 3-D “movie” of the Solar Impulse plane and how it will look.  The design team used the 3-D CAD software CATIA to render every part and component used in the fabrication and construction of the plane.  Having previously worked for the design engineering firm Thinkpath, Inc. for a couple of years, I had some insight to how the software was being used as an engineering tool.Afterwards, we got to see some other stations they had set up for viewing.  Here’s some photos of the cockpit which eventually be used in the plane:

Here’s a test bench donated to the project by Omega. It’s important to understand that Omega isn’t just throwing money for publicity at this project – they have very real and practical contributions to make.  The successful design and construction of this plane is all about making things smaller and lighter, as well as making maximum use of a small energy supply – the exact same micro mechanics and micro electronics for which the Swatch Group has very real engineering expertise.

After the press conference ended, our group was taken back to the Central Plaza and I had the opportunity to do some more sight seeing and shopping (now that it was Monday and stores were open!) before dinner.The next morning I was up bright and early to head back to the Zurich airport for my flights back to the airport – this time they sent an Audi.  Haven’t these guys heard of BMW?  😉

I had an absolutely fantastic time in Zurich and look forward to my scheduled return to Switzerland in April of next year for the Baselworld Watch Fair in Basel, and the SIHH show in Geneva.  I’ll have a few weeks rest as the Zurich trip should be my last press trip for 2007…it’s been a great year!  2008 is already shaping up to be an even better one!

*All text and images contained in this review are the original work of the author, John B. Holbrook, II and are copyright protected. Use of any of the information or images without the permission of the author is prohibited.