Embraer is establishing a new Global Business Center at its Melbourne, Florida facility that will be dedicated to exploring a range of new “disruptive” technologies that could involve manufacturing, air transportation or even space travel.
The Melbourne center will serve as the central clearinghouse for these technologies, but plans call to dispatch “innovation teams,” first in the Silicon Valley high-technology corridor of California and then later this year in Boston. Longer-term, teams may expand further, even to other potential international locations, an Embraer spokesman said.
“The objective is to explore business opportunities in the future of air transportation, with the collaboration of startups, investors, academia and corporations,” the company said of the new venture that is beginning operations this month at Embraer’s Engineering and Technology Center in Melbourne. “The team will seek partnerships that enable new business models and technologies.”
The Melbourne center will work directly with Embraer’s engineering departments in São José dos Campos, Brazil. Antonio Campello, director of corporate innovation, will lead the effort and report directly to Embraer president and CEO Paulo Cesar Silva.
“A major transformation is unfolding worldwide, and it has been accelerated by the evolution of artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality and autonomous vehicles, immensely contributing to millions of people's lives,” Campello said. “This is yet another step that Embraer takes as a key player in transforming global air transportation.”
Embraer already has built some experience in areas such as robotics and virtual reality through its manufacturing advancements, a spokesman said. The company wants to tap into this knowledge, as well as its other areas of expertise, such as its satellites and communications efforts, to forward new concepts in transportation.
A number of new models are surfacing, he said, and Embraer wants to be in front of this evolution rather than at the end of it. He pointed to efforts for autonomous cargo operations as an example of some of the models that have come up, but he did not say that this is a specific direction for Embraer.
Instead, he said Embraer is looking at a number of possibilities, and they may not all involve airfield-to-airfield operations. He added that Embraer also does not want to remain just in the “manufacturing box,” but to play a role in the transportation itself.
Embraer will first start with its “known” technologies and step into the unknown through partnerships with organizations. While Embraer is not yet ready to detail any potential partnerships, the spokesman noted that the company already is involved with the Aerospace Participation Investment Fund. Silicon Valley and Boston are the first choices for the teams because of the amount of research and innovation that occurs in those areas, he added.
“We want to integrate with the Silicon Valley and Boston communities, and create value for transporting people and cargo through the world's largest innovative ecosystems,” Silva said. “We also remain attentive to other important poles of technological and innovation development, and to attractive new business models throughout the world, which bring value to the company.”
The company recognizes the importance such research can play into the future of Embraer, the spokesman noted. “Almost half of the company's income today comes from innovations or significant improvements implemented over the last five years,” the company stated, noting it invests 10 percent of its revenues in research, development and facilities improvement.
