In November 2023 mine countermeasures specialists Exail announced a partnership program with South Australia’s Flinders University for a series of internships in France.
The program is being run by Exail’s Marine Data Processing Product Manager Sébastien Tauvry in conjunction with Karl Sammut, the Professor of Maritime Autonomy at Flinders University. The initial candidate is Jeremy Wojak, who arrived in France in November to begin a six-month internship at Exail’s facility in Brest.
Wojak is sponsored by the Nicolas Baudin Travel Grant program, designed to encourage Australian students to study in France and his internship at Exail also involves the École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées de Bretagne (ENSTA Bretagne) university in Brest.
Along with Saab Australia, Exail is one of two shortlisted candidates for Defence’s Sea 1905 (Mine Countermeasures and Military Survey) program, but Tauvry told ADM that the partnership with Flinders University will not be affected by the outcome of the Commonwealth’s decision.
To learn more, ADM recently met with Wojak and Tauvry at Exail’s facility at La Ciotat on the Mediterranean coast.
Wojak’s internship runs from December 2023 to May 2024 and Tauvry describes the partnership as the first step towards future collaboration between Exail and Flinders University across various fields.
“It’s all about getting to know each other and seeing how we work together,” he said. “The chosen topics are fairly broad, covering several areas, in order to assess skills.”
Included in the range of topics are robotics, software and algorithmic development, sonar development and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The internship is the first initiative under the partnership agreement and Tauvry told ADM that both parties are looking at ways of expanding the opportunities provided.
“This first internship is the first step towards future collaboration in various fields,” he explained. “The exchanges with Professor Sammut at Flinders University will enable us to envisage further collaboration.”
Disclaimer: The writer travelled to France in December as a guest of Exail.