FV 089 : (Part 1) The success story of entrepreneur Joseph Puzo

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What do airbags, artificial hearts and the Discovery robot have in common?

Joseph Puzo is the CEO (in French, "PDG") of AXON' Câble, a very high technology entreprise producing cables. These are not just any cables: Axon' is the provider for the French Ariane space rockets, Airbus aircrafts, the camera on the Discovery robot sending pictures of planet Mars to the world, and many other fascinating projects!

This world class industry is actually established in my small hometown, Montmirail, bordering fields in the Champagne region.

An episode about electric cables? Fear not, this interview is far from being boring!! Listen to find out about more projects that require high precision cables, sometimes thinner than a hair. You'll be impressed at what humankind is now able to do to push the boundaries of space exploration and medical science.

For instance, France has developed the "cœur Carmat", the first artificial heart that replaces the actual heart and Axon was involved in this project.

If you’ve always thought that "a cable is a cable" (or if you hadn’t given it any thought before!), Joseph Puzo will share with you its industrial secret: the very recipe to make unique, high technology cables. How specific do they need to be compared to standard cables? What do they need to resist to? And how to test them in environment where Man has never been?

Joseph Puzo definitely has a real talent at explaining technical, complex information in a very clear, simple manner. Follow his fascinating stories and journey in the first of this 2-parts episode!

Vocab List

brevet (nm) = patent

câble (nm) = cable

concurrence (nf) = competition

concurrent, e (n, adj) = competitor

cordon (nm) = cord, string

cuivre (nm) = copper

divulguer = divulge, disclose, reveal

fiable (adj = reliable

filiale (nf) = subsidiary, affiliate, branch

fusée (nf) = space rocket

gaine (nf) = sheath, sheathing

implanté,e = set up, established

isolant (nm) = insulating/lagging material

moteur (nm) = engine

parabole (nf) = satellite dish

PDG (Président Directeur Général) = CEO, chief executive, managing director

plaqué argent = silver-plated

prise électrique (nf) = electric socket

réseau (nm) = network, reception

salarié, e (n) = employee, staff member

sidérurgie (nf) = steel industry

sonde (nf) = probe, space probe

tenir à l'écart = remove from somewhere, put in isolation

volant (nm) = steering wheel

voyage d'affaires (nm) = business trip

Questions:

Describe what the "One Web" project consists of.

What is Téflon? What are its 3 great properties?

Which precise childhood memory do I have from my visit to Axon’ open house?

Answers:

A French-American society is preparing the launch of 2.600 satellites that will allow anyone, anywhere in the world to get 4G reception, simply using a satellite dish. Axon’ is wiring these satellites.

It’s a type of plastic containing fluorine. It can resist to very high temperatures, it’s an insulating material and it is biocompatible.

There was a cable which was flame resistant. This cable is the Vibraflame and actually also resists to vibrations. It is used in aircrafts and in the steel industry.

Links & Resources

axon-cable.com

"Réinventer l'industrie, les aventures de Joseph Puzo" (Elisabeth Bourguinat, 2015)

http://www.josephpuzo.fr/biographie/

https://www.gpomag.fr/web/interviews/joseph-puzo-pdg-de-axon-cable

https://www.academie-technologies.fr/members/210-joseph-puzo

http://www.tracesecritesnews.fr/actualite/axon-cable-la-tete-dans-les-etoiles-68862