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lishing Airbus's Silicon Valley presence. This process is now in the hands of Airbus digital transformation officer Marc Fontaine who took over as acting chief technology officer after the departure of Eremenko at the end of 2017. Fontaine, who already reports to chief executive officer Tom Enders, became DTO in May 2016, responsible for all aspects of digital technology across the Group's Divisions, as well as Airbus Group Corporate IT and the cyber security program. Enders said by mid 2017 that Airbus Group has to change, following the example of SpaceX and similar cultures favoring disruptive technology. For him staying the same is not an option. Enders said at the Airbus Media Days prior to the Paris Airshow 2017, that Airbus has seen disruptive technologies turning the table on some of its best businesses. This must not happen to its core business in the commercial airplanes unit. A large number of electrical propulsion projects at Airbus are underway, with several first flights planned for the coming years. BRIEF HISTORY OF AIRBUS ELECTRIC AEROSPACE REVOLUTION 2010 Cri-Cri Here are the roots of all Airbus electric airplanes. The project started in 2010 when Airbus sponsored an electric variant of the Colomban Cri-Cri, homebuilt monoplane. Its two, single-piston, two-stroke, 15-hp combustion engines were replaced with four MGM Compro units twirling contrarotating propellers and producing in total 60 hp. With less than 30 minutes of endurance, it had limited utility but it was an important proof of what is possible and the beginning of the Airbus electric flight journey. Cri-Cri had a takeoff weight (including the pilot) of just 175 kg (390 pounds). 2011 e-Genius The e-Genius electric aircraft made news in 2011 when it stayed airborne for over two hours while maintaining an average speed of 100 mph (160 km/h), on a single 56 kwh battery pack. The e-Genius has been developed at the Institute of Aircraft Design at the University of Stuttgart, Germany under leadership of Professor Rudolf Voit -Nitschmann and was built by a team of students between October 2010 and May 2011. E-Genius, the motorglider, derived from the solar motorglider Icaré II from 1996, was in 2006 fitted with the fuel-cell propulsion system, then called Hydrogenius. Both have been awarded with the Berblinger-Prize of the City of Ulm, Germany. The e-Genius is a two-seater aircraft in high wing configuration, all composite made and equipped with a retractable landing gear. The propulsion is realized by a single permanent magnet synchronous motor with an electrical driven variable-pitch propeller. The diameter of this tractor configured propeller is 2.20 m DA36 AT the 2014 Farnborough International Airshow E GENIUS AIRBUS AIRBUS ELECTRIFICATION TIME-LINE