Charles Bombardier (born 1974) is a Canadian engineer and
angel investor
An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...
.
His concept ideas have been noted in some news publications.
Background
Charles Bombardier was born in
Valcourt, Canada.
Bombardier's grandfather was
Joseph-Armand Bombardier
Joseph-Armand Bombardier (; April 16, 1907 – February 18, 1964) was a Canadian inventor and businessman who was the founder of Bombardier. His most famous invention was the snowmobile.
Biography
Born in Valcourt, Quebec, Joseph-Armand Bombar ...
, founder of
Bombardier Inc. and inventor of the
snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...
.
At age 16, Bombardier began working for his family's company on the Ski-Doo assembly line in Valcourt.
Education
Bombardier first completed a technical degree at the
CEGEP
A CEGEP ( or ; ), also written cégep, CÉGEP and cegep, is a publicly funded college providing technical, academic, vocational or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, i ...
of
Lévis-Lauzon in 1994. He then attended the
École de technologie supérieure
École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) is a public engineering faculty in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Founded in 1974, the École de technologie supérieure is a constituent of Université du Québec system. Specialized in applied teaching in ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
,
where he received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1998. In 2011 he completed a certificate in board governance from Laval University. Bombardier went on to complete a master's degree in applied science, writing his thesis on the subject of crowdfunding and innovation management. In 2016, he began his research and doctoral studies in engineering at the
Université de Sherbrooke
The University of Sherbrooke ( French: Université de Sherbrooke) (UdS) is a large public French-language university in Quebec, Canada with campuses located in Sherbrooke and Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal approximately west of Sherbrooke. It ...
.
Career
Bombardier began his career with Bombardier Recreational Products, where he managed various engineering teams, including the Bombardier
Traxter XL ATV, the Elite Snowmobile by
Ski-Doo
Ski-Doo is a brand name of snowmobile manufactured by Bombardier Recreational Products (originally Bombardier Inc. before the spin-off). The Ski-Doo personal snowmobile brand is so iconic, especially in Canada, that it was listed in 17th place ...
[ and the Spyder roadster motorcycle by Can-Am.] In 2008, Bombardier left the family business to create electric vehicle prototypes.
In 2013 focused his research on the product ideation process. He began converting his ideas into design concepts related to the future of mobility. The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
hired him soon after to start writing a weekly column.
He continues to invest with his family in Canadian startups and incubators. In 2016, he was named to the board of the Order of Engineers of Québec.
Concept designs
Bombardier began publishing his concepts in 2013. As of February 2019, he had published and shared over 325 concepts, ranging from recreational products to cars, boats, and aircraft. Each of his concepts includes a brief project description. Bombardier collaborates with industrial designers from around the world to convert his vision into 3D models and graphic images.
''Skreemr'' and ''Antipode'' supersonic aircraft
The Skreemr and Antipode concepts depict two types of hypersonic passenger airliner concepts able to fly from New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
to London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in less than 11 minutes.[ Reusable rocket boosters would initially accelerate and propel the aircraft to Mach 5, after which, scramjets engines would take over and continue accelerating them up to Mach 24,2. An opening in the Antipode's nose would expel counter-flowing jets of air to cool the aircraft surface and reduce its sonic booms. This technology, dubbed long penetration mode (LPM), was inspired by a ]NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
study. Both concepts were featured in publications including Popular Mechanics, Architectural Digest, CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
and Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
.
''Seataci''
The Seataci is a yacht concept that uses a biomimetic
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...
propulsion system resembling the movement of whale's tail. Its main hull would be lowered underwater, providing passengers with an excellent underwater view of the coral reefs and marine life. It features a dozen villas and two landing pads specially designed for personal flying drones. It received a lot of press around the world and appeared in Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
, Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
and hundreds of other websites around the world.
''The Solar Express''
The Solar Express is a space train that would be designed and used to ferry humans, supplies and minerals between celestial bodies and space stations in our solar system. It would run non-stop, so smaller vessels would need to catch the train when it passed by. It provides an artist's rendering of a Mars cycler
A Mars cycler (or Earth–Mars cycler) is a kind of spacecraft trajectory that encounters Earth and Mars regularly. The term Mars cycler may also refer to a spacecraft on a Mars cycler trajectory. The Aldrin cycler is an example of a Mars cycler. ...
spacecraft. The Solar Express concept generated thousands of articles around the globe in several languages including Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
, German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, and Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
.
References
External links
''Daily Planet'' – March 5, 2014
''Daily Planet'' – March 18, 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bombardier, Charles
Canadian industrial designers
Living people
1974 births
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...