Headquarters Montreal Number of employees 200 | Founded 1987 Type of business Private | |
Industry Aerospace, Flight Simulation Key people Fernando Petruzziello, Joaquim Frazao, Thom Allen,
Marco Petruzziello Products Full Flight Simulator, FTD, Flight Training Equipment, FSTD, Commercial Aviation Training, General Aviation Training, Business Aviation Training Website | ||
Mechtronix Inc. was a Canadian company specializing in the manufacture of flight simulation training devices (FSTD) for commercial, general and business aviation. The company was founded in 1987 and based out of Montreal in Canada's aviation hub with a customer base in the Americas, Europe, the Middle-East and Asia. Mechtronix' products range from full flight simulators (FFS) to flight training devices (FTD). They have technical support centers strategically located around the globe to support worldwide customers that include major airlines, training centers and training organizations. The company was acquired by Textron in 2013 and was merged into a new entity called TRU simulation + Training and represents the simulator development and manufacturing wing of the company.
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History
In the middle of the microprocessor revolution, in an R&D lab at Montreal’s Concordia University, five graduate students were assigned a project to build a flight simulator using microprocessor technology, launched by the country's National Research Council (NRC). The five students - Fernando Petruzziello, Joaquim Frazao, Marco Petruzziello, Thomas Allen and Xavier-Henri Hervé - successfully completed their project, graduated and established their own company in 1987, namely Mechtronix Inc.
The company started as an engineering consultancy group specializing in all aspects of microprocessor industrial applications. When the aeronautical regulations later evolved to allow Mechtronix' technology to be offered on to the aviation training market, the graduate students launched in 1996 its family of flight training simulators ranging from software applications to full motion Full Flight Simulators (FFS). The launch was quickly followed by orders received worldwide for Level D Full Flight simulators and Flight Training Devices (FTD). Mechtronix today has customer support and services centers in Canada, Europe, and Asia. Textron bought Mechtronix in November 2013.
Products & Services
Mechtronix manufactures a complete line of training devices for general, business and commercial aviation. The product family includes Full Flight Simulators Level D, FNPTs (Flight and Navigation Procedures Trainers) and FTDs (Flight Training Devices). With research and development at the core of Mechtronix' culture, new products are introduced to the market to meet unmet needs such as the FFT X, an exact replica of the FFS without a motion base. Mechtronix simulated aircraft range from small single-engine training airplanes, such as the Cessna 172 to commercial airplanes, such as the Boeing 737, Airbus 320 & 330, ATR 42/72.
In addition to the company's expertise in simulation they were also the exclusive manufacturer of Pall friction dampers. The company manufactured dampers which today protect institutions around the world. Some notable institutions include the Boeing manufacturing building in Everett, the Casino of Montreal and the Canadian embassy in Tehran.
Awards
Mechtronix has received numerous appraisals and awards for innovations introduced to the aviation training market through in-house research & development, exporting strategies and product quality.
Les Mercuriades - Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Ernst & Young - Entrepreneur of the Year Frost & Sullivan National Bank of CanadaCustomer list
Mechtronix has a worldwide track record with airlines, training centers and flight schools in commercial aviation, general aviation and business aviation sectors.
Commercial customers include: ATR Training Centre, CSA Czech Airlines, Copa Airlines, Lufthansa Flight Training, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Avianca, StarFlyer, Air Arabia, Interjet, Aer Arann and TRIP Linhas Aéreas.
General and business aviation customers include: Boeing Training & Flight Services, Cargair, Centre Québécois de Formation Aéronautique, Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Flight Training Europe, Oxford Aviation Academy, International Flight Training Center(IFTC), University of North Dakota, to name but a few.