On May 15th, supported by (among others) Institute of Aviation and our employees, a general meeting of Polish Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics took place. During the meeting, new Society board was elected. Prof. Hab. Dr. Eng. Mirosław Rodzewicz was elected Chairman of the Board. Immediately after the meeting, Professor Fred Abbink from the Netherlands – a retired General Director of the Dutch aviation institute NLR held a lecture titled „Survival of the Fittest: 90 Years of Dutch Aeronautics RDT&E in a Globalising Environment”. Professor Abbink’s rich personality was presented by the outgoing President of the PSAA Board Prof. Hab. Dr. Eng. Zdobysław Goraj (pictured, attached are also thesis of the lecture and Prof. Abbink’s CV). On behalf of the PSAA, Prof. Goraj honored Prof. Abbink with the title of Honorary Member and a commemorative PSAA medal. Prof. Abbink discussed in detail the history of the Dutch aviation industry and its cooperation with the NLR, as well as changes in its strategy after the liquidation of the national aviation industry in the Netherlands, where in order to thrive, NLR became a partner of the global aviation industry, just as our institute. It is worth recalling, that jointly with NLR as a coordinator, we are currently implementing the “Endless Runway” project as part of 7th Framework Programme of the European Union. During backstage conversations, Prof. Abbink declared his support of the Polish sector of aviation research and development efforts for the organization of subsequent prestigious meetings of the Programme Committee of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences ICAS and ICAS conference in Poland.
