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KAREN BOMBA, ONE OF THE WOMEN WHO FORGED SAFRAN'S HISTORY

10 April 2025 3AF Newsletter
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Document designed by MalikAbabsa on the occasion of Women's Day (March 08)with the collaboration ofDominiqueProt, " Espace Patrimoine" manager, Marion Casali, administrative and HR assistant andPierre-VincentBruys, SAFRAN.

Biography:Karen Bomba holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1986) and an M.S. in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of California (UCLA) .of California (UCLA), Karen Bomba, 48, began her career at Northrop Corporation (California) in the Advanced Systems division as Production Engineering Manager . She then held the position of Director of Aircraft Structure, Insulation Products and Carbon Brakes at Hitco Carbon Composites in Gardena (California) for 7 years. In 2000, Karen Bomba was appointedPresident andCEOof Messier-BugattiUSA, a subsidiary of Messier-Bugatti(Safran). In 2008, she joined Zoltek Companies, Inc. as Chief Operating Officer, before rejoining Safran in 2010 asPresident andCEOof Labinal.In 2013 Karen Bomba was appointedChairmanandCEO of Morpho Detection.

KAREN BOMBA'S CAREER AT SAFRAN.

2010 Appointment as CEO of Labinal - On September 1, 2010, Karen Bomba was appointed CEO ofLabinal1 (Safran group), succeeding Norman Jordan. She reports to Yves Leclère, Executive Vice President, Aircraft Equipment branch.

Verbatims fromYves Leclère : " Karen has held numerous management positions in the aerospace sector, notably within the Safran group, and we are delighted that she is now taking the helm at Labinal."

She has an excellent track record of creating growth and performance while developing a customer-centric approach. Karen will bring a wealth of experience to Labinal, and her arrival coincides with an exciting chapter in our company's history".

2011 A380 End-to-end contract Labinal is supplying the fuselage electrical system for the Airbus A380 for the duration of the program.

Against a backdrop of increasing production rates due to the commercial success of the A380, Airbus and Labinal have signed a contract to supply the electrical wiring system for the A380 fuselage. Initiated by AIRBUS, this contract calls for the optimization of processes and working methods to reduce production cycles and costs, from initial design to production and services.

Verbatim from Karen Bomba : " Labinal's teams are very proud that Airbus has renewed its confidence inthem , and to be able to rely on them to help achieve very ambitious long-term objectives is ideal for promoting continuous improvement ".
2011 Creation of a " jointventure " Safran and COMAC - The two companies, represented respectively by Labinal (Safran) and Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co. (SAMC), a subsidiary of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), sign a partnership to equip the new C919 aircraft witha propulsion system. The aircraft is a medium-haultwinjetwith 168 to 190 seats, and will make its maiden flight on May 5, 2017 .
The contractwassigned in Shanghai by Karen Bomba and HE Dongfeng, VicePresidentof COMAC and President of SAMC , in the presence ofYves Leclère, Executive Vice President of Safran, Aircraft Equipmentbranch and of WUGuanghui, VicePresidentof COMAC and ChiefDesign Engineerfor the C919 .
Based in Shanghai, the new company specializes in the design, development, production and customer support of EWIS (Electrical Wiring Interconnection Systems) for the aerospace market in the Asia-Pacificregion. A production run of 2,000 units over 20 years is envisaged upon signature of the contract .
2011 Labinal selected by Airbus for the entire lifecycle of the A320, A330/A340programs - After afour-year call fortenders, with intermediate stages successfullycompleted , Airbus and Labinalfinalize the " Move@head "contract. This contract covered the production of electrical harnesses required by Airbus Hamburg and Stade for thesingle-aisle andlong-range (SA/LR for Single Aisle and Long Range) A320, A330/A340familiesoverall programlifetimes. This contractinvolved monthly deliveries of over 5,500 harnesses, and represented activity for over 350
people spread over the Chihuahua and Villemur sites.

Verbatim De Karen Bomba : " We are very honored that Airbus has renewed its confidence in our ability to provide support on thesemajor Airbus programs . This is an opportunity to strengthen the partnership between our two companies".

The program launch meetingwas held at Labinal's head office on June16 2011 attended by representatives of all Airbus functionsinvolved (Program, Quality, Purchasing).
2012 Safran investment of 12 million euros At the inauguration of Labinal's new site in Villemur-sur-Tarn, Karen Bomba, Chairman and CEO of Labinal, and Jean-Paul Herteman, Chairman and CEO of the Safran group, signed an investment contract worth 12 million euros to secure the local presence of the company, world leader in electrical wiring solutions for the aerospace market.
The new site replaces the former Labinal plant, created in the 1960s, and now bears the name of Jean Labinal, the man behind the industrial history of the equipment manufacturer that founded Établissements Labinal in 1921. The site produces wiring and electrical furniture for EADS (Airbus and Eurocopter), and is home to Airbus' after-sales services. It also coordinates all Labinal production worldwide.
Verbatim from Jean-Paul Herteman : " This new plant opening, the sixth since 2010, perfectly illustrates the Safran group's industrial strategy: to preserve skills and perpetuate key technologies in France by investing in its historical bases.With 80% of our business destined for international markets, our group has a fully-fledged global dimension that is supported by its roots in France, where wemake 75% of our investments and where 2/3 of our workforce is based".
Additional by Karen Bomba at the ceremony: " Our teams now benefit from a modern site, improving industrial efficiency and working conditions. The new plant enables Labinal to maintain its proximity to EADS, which is essential to its business and serviceoffering .The site in Villemur-sur-Tarncoordinates manufacturing activities for Airbus and Eurocopter at all Labinal plants worldwide.It is also responsible for the after-salesand configurationmanagement of all our products,whatever their origin .
2013 Inauguration of a new Safran design office in Mobile (Alabama, USA) A new Safran design office called "Aeroplex Brookley", designed to support aerospace and transportation companies in Alabama, opens in Mobile. The aim will be to provide expertise and support to Airbus. On the same day, the French aircraft manufacturer laid the foundation stone for its future Airbus A320 assembly line in the same city. Bruno Bernard, President of Safran Engineering Services, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama and Alan Mac Artor, Mobile's official representative took part in the ceremony.
Verbatim from Karen Bomba, President and CEO of Labinal: "Labinal is very excited to be the first supplier to join the Airbus engineering teams in Mobile, Alabama. This new office reflects the commitment of Labinal and Safran Engineering Services' to support our customer locally and expand our relationship with them," he added.
Verbatim from Bruno Bernard: "Proximity is the best way to ensure and provide safe and responsive services to our customers...We are in a perspective of continuous development of our services and network to best serve the American market."
Also in 2013, in the presence of its customers, employees, suppliers and officials, Labinal celebrated the inauguration of a new site in Denton on May 7, 2013, an event that marked the culmination of two years of teamwork.
In attendance were JorgeOrtega, vice-Presidentand ManagingDirector North America, Mark Burroughs, mayor of Dentonas well as elected municipal officials and representatives from the aerospace industry, including Boeing, Bell Helicopter and Lockheed Martin. The new 12,000m2 facility is twice the size of the Corinth facility.
Verbatim from Karen Bomba : " Themove to a larger, better-equipped site perfectly demonstrates Safran's industrial strategy of preserving skills, developing improvements and growing through investment in existing sites.Labinal is present throughout the world and particularly in North America, where almost half of our employees are based. "
Also in 2013, as part of the merger of the Group's electrical activities into a single entity, Alain Sauret, appointed Presidentand CEOof Labinal, takes charge of the Labinal / Safran Power merger projectwhen Karen Bomba takes responsibility for Morpho's operations in the UnitedStates. Karen Bombais thus advancing gender equity in the Safran group, which supports the International Association of Women in Aeronautics (IAWA) and took part in the conference celebrating its 25 th anniversary in Panama.
The IAWA (International Aviation Women's Association) is an association that brings together highly successful women in the aviation industry and which aims to promote their influence on an international scale by setting up a global network of women professionals in the sector .
2014 Safran, partner de l'Association Internationale des Femmes
de l'Aéronautique - En parrainant pour la deuxième année consécutive, la conférence annuelle de l'Association Internationale des Femmes de l'Aéronautique qui se tient à Seattle du 15 au 17 octobre 2014. Safranis committed to advancing diversity on an international scale. This conferencewelcomed over 250 women from 18 countries including Karen Bomba, Presidentand CEOof Morpho Detection andseveral other Safran representatives.
2014 White House Jobs Roundtable-This same year, Safran took part in a jobs roundtable organized at the White House on the theme of "Investing in the United States". The event was part of the "SelectUSA" initiative, spearheaded by President Obama to encourage foreign business investment in the United States. During the event, 11 corporate executives, including Karen Bomba, were invited to give their views on how to attract foreign investment.
From left to right : Carsten Spohr, Deutsche Lufthansa AG ; Ravila Gupta, Umicore USA ; Barrack Obama ; Joe Hinrichs, Ford Motor Company ; Sanjay K. Jha, Globalfoundries ; Michael Penner, Richelieu ; Peder Holk Nielsen, Novozymes ; Jeff Zients, National Economic Council ; Karen Bomba, Morpho Detection (Safran) ; Michael Araten, K'Nex and Rodon Group.
After presenting the Safran company, Karen Bombastresses the importance of STEM2education programs focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics to meet the growing demand for engineers in the UnitedStates. These topics were also discussed with President Obama .
2015 Safran, a company awarded for its film "Women's Viewpoint" - On May31, 2015 in La Baule,this film, which highlights talented women working within the SafranGroup, received the HR communication award at the "Film and Companies"festival. Through thisshort film, Safranpositionsitself in favor of a better representation of womenin all its fields of activity. Safran is committed to recruiting atleast 25% of women, to promoting theiraccess to the technical professionsand to encouragingthemto make a career in these fields, which are too oftenconsidered to be male-dominated. Finally, since 2006, the Group has been a partner of "Elles bougent", an association that aims to encourage female vocations in the industrial sector, as well as the internationally renowned Women's Forum.



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