The Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) and the Lehigh University of Pennsylvania, USA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the areas of Education, Research & Development, and Academic Excellence.

Lehigh University is one of the top 30 US Universities, which, on the initiative of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and former Minister of Education Nikis Kerameos, visited Greece in November 2022, with the aim of collaborating with Greek Academic and Research Institutions. The agreement is the resulting success of this visit.

Lehigh University is one of the first universities in the world in the field of Materials Technology and Engineering. Its main activities include Aeronautical Engineering, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) development, Space Technology, and other areas of HAI interest.

The HAI’s partnership with Lehigh University is part of its plans to establish a Private Aerospace University, which will include, among others, Pilot, Air Traffic, and Airline Management Schools. This plan is fully supported by the Ministry of Education.

HAI is developing into an international center for Aerospace studies, hosting more than 1,000 students from Arab countries through contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros. Using its own financing, it has recently completed an educational building of 9,500 sq.m. worth 20 million euros and has already started the construction of two other similar buildings.

The CEO of HAI, Mr. Dimitrios Papakostas, a graduate of Lehigh University and a member of the University’s International Advisory Committee, stated that he is proud to have reached the agreement between the Hellenic Aerospace Industry and Lehigh University, which will allow HAI to establish an International University which will offer studies in Aerospace.

Already well-known for international education through its existing programs, HAI aims to become one of the few universities in the world with specialized aviation studies. HAI is moving forward with projects, progress, and visions, Mr. Papakostas concluded.

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