AIAC SPONSORS LONDON GALA TO COMMEMORATE THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB AND FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY – July 25, 2024 - AIAC co-sponsored a private Champagne Reception and Banquet celebrating the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Explorers Club and the 76th anniversary of the founding of the Farnborough International Airshow on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in London. The commemorative gala was hosted by AIAC Chairman and Explorers Club Trustee, L. M. Levie, in the Princess Marie Louise Dining Room of the Oxford Cambridge Club, located on Pall Mall, in the St. James District of London.
Invited guests included members of the Explorers Club’s Great Britain and Ireland Chapter, along with prominent corporate leaders from the aviation, space, and finance sectors. AIAC companies that sponsored the event included Bradford Space, Arnprior Aerospace, SuperAlloy Manufacturing Solutions, Consolidated Industries, Lenape Forged Products, Champlain Cable Corporation, Umbilicals International, and Vermont Aerospace Industries.
Earlier that week, on Tuesday, July 23, AIAC sponsored a commemorative reception at the AIAC Exhibit in Hall 4 at the Farnborough International Airshow.
Guests were greeted with a champagne reception in the club’s lounge and then filed in for dinner, emceed by Alice Bromage, Chief Executive Officer of the Leadership Trust. Marc Bryan-Brown, Member of the Board of Directors of the Explorers Club conveyed well wishes and greetings from Explorers Club President Richard Garriott and Executive Director Will Roseman. The first speaker, noted Australian biologist and conservationist, Sacha Dench, known as the "Human Swan," delivered a presentation about her celebrated efforts in helping preserve these majestic birds by piloting an ultralight plane along their northern migratory route.
The second speaker, Shawna Pandya, MD, a Virgin Galactic space physician, scientist, and astronaut, took the podium to discuss the myriad challenges astronauts face in outer space and the critical importance of astronaut medicine.
George Vyvyan, a baritone opera singer from Oxford University, then performed “I am the Very Model of an RAF Air Marshal,” a lighthearted musical tribute to the pioneers of aviation, space flight, and the past and present leaders of the Explorers Club.
Attendees paused in a solemn moment of remembrance for Explorers Club Trustee, Hamish Harding, who tragically passed away one year ago inside the Titan submersible that imploded in the North Atlantic Ocean at the site of the Titanic. James Moore, a close friend of Mr. Harding, recited an elegy in tribute to Mr. Harding and officially conferred the framed verse to Robert Evans, Mr. Harding’s nephew.
Dinner was then served, after which Neville Shulman, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, acclaimed mountaineer, filmmaker, and philanthropist, formally presented AIAC Chairman Levie with Honorary Membership in the Great Britain and Ireland Chapter of the Explorers Club. Mr. Levie expressed his gratitude to event committee members Neville Shulman, Alice Bromage, Alicia Colson, Isabel Carro-Toro, James Moore, Gordon Richardson, and Marc Bryan-Brown.
Attendees then retired to the Oxford Cambridge Club Lounge for coffee and drinks. The five-and-a-half-hour gala concluded at midnight.
AIAC Chairman L. M. Levie commented, “It was an honor and privilege for AIAC to host the celebration of the 120th anniversary of the Explorers Club and the 76th anniversary of the Farnborough International Airshow at the Oxford Cambridge Club of London. My colleagues and I were delighted to greet Members, Fellows, and friends of the distinguished Great Britain and Ireland Chapter of the Explorers Club along with noted leaders of the aerospace industry.”
Mr. Levie continued, “This gala paid tribute to the astonishing accomplishments of the world’s greatest aviators and astronauts, all members of the Explorers Club, and the greatest aviation and space entrepreneurs in the world, all exhibitors at the Farnborough International Airshow. These bold men and women have truly forged the future.”
About American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC) is a diversified industrial group with manufacturing and distribution sites in 24 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia. AIAC has acquired and grown non-core subsidiaries and divisions of Boeing, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Visteon, Carlyle, Ahlstrom, Tolko, Groupe Suez, Groupe Rexel, and many other leading multinational corporations.
AIAC companies serve companies and governmental entities worldwide in all major sectors, including aviation, space, defense, automotive, truck, rail, marine, petrochemical, solar, nuclear, food, confectionary, beverage, civil engineering and infrastructure, commercial construction, mining, dredging, disaster relief, education, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. AIAC companies manufacture materials, components, assemblies, packaging, equipment, and finished products. In addition, AIAC companies are exclusive, authorized distributors of leading branded industrial and consumer products throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. AIAC is a leading manufacturer of building, street, and highway signage in Europe, signage and illumination structures in North America, and a distributor of electrical products throughout France.
Of note, AIAC purchased Boeing Canada in 2005 and has produced over 10,000 unique components for every Boeing jet plane ever since, reliably serving Boeing from manufacturing facilities in North America. A leader in ultra-high precision jet engine component manufacturing, AIAC companies produce 2,200 fan blades and blisks for each jet engine produced by GE, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and Honeywell. AIAC companies produce the critical automotive wire and cable for Tesla, GM, Ford, Chrysler- Fiat, Toyota, and Nissan. In connection with its kraft paper manufacturing interests in Canada and the US, AIAC controls and sustainably manages 22 million acres of Manitoba, Canada forestland, an area equivalent in size to the nation of Hungary.
AIAC companies actively support exploration into outer space, manufacturing critical components for launching and propelling spacecraft and satellites. AIAC customers in this sector include NASA, the European Space Agency, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Boeing. AIAC companies also lead in the design and manufacture of undersea umbilical cables for worldwide oceanographic research.
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About AIAC Philanthropy
AIAC and the AIAC Foundation support a wide range of nonprofit, nonsectarian, bipartisan organizations which promote international conflict resolution, disaster relief, economic development, environmental sustainability, and exploration. The exploration-focused nonprofit organizations which they actively support include the Explorers Club, the National Geographic Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Space Society, and the United States Space Foundation.
In recent months, AIAC Companies have proudly served as a corporate sponsor of Hubert Sagniere’s historic circumnavigation of the earth in a single-engine plane (www.flightaroundtheglobe.com).
AIAC’s other beneficiaries include the Appeal of the Nobel Peace Laureates Foundation Inc., the Asia Society, the Atlantic Council, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - Gates Philanthropy Partners, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carter Center, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York, the Foreign Policy Association, the Institut Française des Relations Internationales, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Crisis Group, the International Rescue Committee, the Japan Society, the JFK School of Government of Harvard University, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the Sierra Club, and the Trilateral Commission.
For further information, see:
https://www.aiac.com/our-values
About the Farnborough International Airshow
The Farnborough International Airshow is a premier trade exhibition for the aerospace and defense industries, where both civilian and military aircraft are showcased to potential customers and investors. Located in Farnborough, Hampshire, the airshow has a rich history dating back to its first event in 1948. Over the years, it has seen the debut of many iconic aircraft, including the Vickers VC10, Concorde, Eurofighter, Airbus A380, and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. One of the most memorable moments in its history occurred in 1958 when the RAF's Black Arrows performed a world-record 22-aircraft formation loop.
Held in mid-July in even-numbered years at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre, the event spans five days of flying displays, static aircraft exhibits, and numerous booths and stands in the indoor exhibition halls. It is organized by Farnborough International Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ADS Group. The Farnborough International Airshow is the second-largest event of its kind, following the Paris Air Show, and alternates with it, as well as coinciding with the Berlin Air Show in the same years.
The airshow has been an essential platform for industry leaders to pioneer change, build new connections, and engage with thought leaders, offering unparalleled business development opportunities.
For further information, please see:
https://www.farnboroughairshow.com/
About the Explorers Club
The Explorers Club is an American-based, international, multidisciplinary professional society with the mission of promoting and supporting scientific exploration and field study on land, sea, and space. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for explorers and scientists worldwide. Members of the club have been the first to explore the North Pole, South Pole, Mount Everest, the Mariana Trench, and to walk on the Moon.
The club's notable current members or honorees include Buzz Aldrin, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Richard Branson, James Cameron, Ray Dalio, Wendy Schmidt, and Jane Goodall. In years past, prominent members have included President Theodore Roosevelt, Sir Edmund Hillary, Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Thor Heyerdahl, Walter Cronkite, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The Explorers Club’s historic clubhouse, at 46 East 70th Street in New York City, is a museum and monument to the “Famous Firsts,” the greatest explorers and expeditions of all time.
For further information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_explorers_club
About the Oxford and Cambridge Club
Founded on the rich traditions of academic excellence and camaraderie, the Oxford and Cambridge Club stands as a distinguished institution in London’s Pall Mall.
Established through the merger of the United University Club and the Oxford and Cambridge University Club in 1972, its history dates back to 1821. Housed in a splendid Grade II listed building designed by Sir Robert Smirke, the club has been a cornerstone of intellectual and social life for members of Oxford and Cambridge universities.
Prominent current members include His Majesty King Charles III, Her Majesty Queen Margrethe ΙΙ of Denmark, His Majesty King Harald V of Norway and His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium. Noted members in prior years have included His Majesty King Edward IV and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prime Ministers William Gladstone and Harold Macmillan, and writers T. S. Eliot and William Makepeace Thackeray.
Today, the club continues to thrive, offering a rich array of facilities including an historic library, dining rooms, and spaces for social and business gatherings, embodying a tradition of academic excellence and fellowship cherished by its members.
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Media Contact:
Isabel Carro-Toro, Vice President
American Industrial Acquisition Corporation
+34 689 295 827 (Spain)
+ 1 787 244 3175 (USA)
icarro-toro@aiac.com