Vanguard Magazine

44 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com gAme CHANGER See the full interview online Q What is your role at your organization today? I joined Bluedrop in 2015 as Vice Presi- dent Technology & Simulation and have since taken on the responsibility for Business Development as well. Other than Business Development, my role is to grow the company and to develop a product portfolio using latest technolo- gies to complement Bluedrop's course- ware design and production business. The strategy is to become the refer- ence for rear crew training by providing leading-edge virtual reality (VR) trainers accompanied with an adapted training plan. In addition, the product portfolio will evolve to address all military do- mains, – the air force, army and navy, respectively. Q What was your most challenging moment? The most challenging moment was to build a brand-new team to develop a state-of-the-art VR rear crew mission trainer. As part of Bluedrop strategy to transform itself from a courseware de- sign and production company into a training solutions provider by adding in- novative simulation products to its port- folio, it was imperative to succeed on a tight schedule and tight budget. Technically, the major challenge was to be able to fuse data from multiple sources for head and hand tracking, full body tracking for multiple trainees and be able to render the virtual scene in real time so that the immersive experience is seamless. We tested multiple gaming and movie industry technologies before suc- ceeding in finding the right solution at the right price. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? The one thing that has me fired up is that the risk we took is paying off. We started from a blank sheet of paper to create a new generation of rear crew trainer us- ing VR and body tracking technologies and we are having success in creating a new breed of simulators for rear crew mission training. We have a simulator in Philadelphia at Boeing's Chinook's manufacturing plant, we have a Hoist Mission Training System in Shearwater for the CH-148 Cyclone helicopter and we will be announcing further sales in Canada and in the United States in the very near future. In addition, we are beneficiaries of a Strategic Innovation Funding project from Industry Canada that will provide stable funding for innovation for the next five years. Through this develop- ment we will be able to use big data analytics to provide real time, objective feedback to trainees based on data. This will revolutionize how trainees are as- sessed and how training can be continu- ously improved. Q What is the best advice you received? The best advice I received was to be de- cisive in a position of leadership. Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? I believe that a contribution to my suc- cess is first of all, the ability to listen to the customer and understand their needs. Secondly, to be able to be stra- tegic and tactical at the same time and to be able to provide guidance and vi- sion without being overbearing. My style of leadership has always been to walk the floor and show interest in everybody's work and be there when needed. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innovation mindset? Apple, Uber, Airbnb because of how they changed the landscape of their industry. Q What are some of the biggest impediments to innovation in your industry sector? The biggest impediments are the availabil- ity of funding but also the adoption of the disruptive aspect of new generation train- ing simulators. New generation of VR training systems are not part of training plans and make acceptability and adop- tion more difficult. Bluedrop is working hard to ensure that there is a path for in- troduction of new technologies in military training plans while ensure that such new technologies provide training outcomes that improve proficiency and throughput. Q What technologies, business models, and trends will drive the biggest changes in your industry over the next two years? The technologies coming from the digi- tal world we live in, cannot be neglected. In addition, any new training system will need to evolve to take into consideration the new generation of millennials needs and ways when it comes to learning. Q What is your parting piece of advice? In our defence and security industry, it is extremely important to keep investing in innovation to be able to survive. How- ever, for Bluedrop we believe that the use of innovation must always be to achieve training outcomes. We are not building gadgets, but we are providing relevant training products that contribute to the training continuum. Jean-ClauDe SIew Vice PresiDent technoloGy & siMulation BLuedrop training & SimuLation inC.

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