Waldwick, NJ, and Paris, France / May 17, 2023 — At next month's International Paris Air Show, the highly anticipated exhibition of aerospace technology, engineering, and innovation will also highlight the industry's dire workforce shortages. To encourage and inspire future generations to pursue careers in aviation and aerospace, Kallman Worldwide Inc., organizer of the USA national presence at Le Bourget for the past 28 years, today announced plans to host the show's first-ever "Workforce Weekend," a STEM-focused classrooms-through-careers fair on-site during the show's public days.

The Paris Air Show, last held in 2019, will be open to trade visitors only for the first four days, then to students and public visitors from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 June. For the weekend, Kallman will transform the 6,000-plus sqm USA Partnership Pavilion in Hall 3 into “Spaceport USA,” a space-themed, interactive showcase of immersive activities, engineering innovations, and technology demonstrations to engage and educate visitors of all ages.

Highlights will include personal appearances on Saturday 25 June by Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot Brigadier General Charles ‘Charlie’ Duke, and Space Shuttle Commander Michael Bloomfield who will share his experiences from three space shuttle missions, including work on assembling the International Space Station. Read more at: https://kallman.com/astronauts-and-industry-will-launch-workforce-weekend-at-2023-paris-air-show/

A much-anticipated highlight of the 54th Paris Air Show this summer will be the return of Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot, Brigadier General Charlie Duke, USAF (Ret), as a goodwill ambassador of the USA Partnership Pavilion and the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship. Duke will be joined by former French Astronaut-Cosmonaut Général de Brigade Jean-Loup Chretien, Armée de l'Air (Ret); former NASA astronaut, Col. Michael J. Bloomfield, USAF (Ret); and Endeavour program founder, USA Partnership Pavilion organizer Tom Kallman, to announce the host country’s first scholarship recipients of a week-long, hands-on astronaut training experience at Space Camp in Huntsville, AL later this summer.

Kallman launched the Endeavour program during the 53rd edition of the show in 2019 with Duke and fellow astronauts Walt Cunningham (Apollo 7) and scholarship namesake Al Worden (Apollo 15) in recognition of Worden’s lifetime commitment to promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Since then, with the support of global partners in government, industry, and academia, the program has navigated the pandemic to award scholarships to 32 students and 8 educators representing the United Arab Emirates, Chile, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.