Note from Magès to Grosseau: refusal to join the BHRA (22 February 1972)

In this document

The note, dated 22 February 1972, is addressed by Paul Magès to a certain Mr. Grosseau, and bears the mention "Seen by Mr. Pierre AZOU on 14.2.72, Director of the Higher Institute of Materials and Mechanical Construction" p. 1.

The context recalled by Magès

Magès explains that the department has been receiving studies from the BHRA (British Hydraulic Research Association) for "more than 10 years". A membership application had been considered "about 6 years ago", but was not followed up on, "for budgetary reasons, but above all for a reason of secrecy" p. 1.

The four arguments against membership

Faced with a new membership proposal, Magès declares himself "absolutely against" it, for four reasons p. 1:

1. The internal calculation department is considered "very efficient", capable of conducting the necessary numerical and analog simulations, and of following practical experiments "step by step" — described as "indispensable" (underlined in the text).
2. A desire to reduce the "Study" budget makes any external expenditure for problems that can be handled internally "more efficiently" inappropriate.
3. A distinction is made between the "mathematical problem of hydrostatic transmissions" and their "material realization": there can be no question of providing information on in-house studies.
4. A question is raised regarding possible "ties" of Mr. Gerber with the companies REDAN or GURY p. 1.

The document bears an unidentified handwritten initial and the date "22.2.72" at the bottom of the page.

Context

The BHRA (British Hydromechanics Research Association) was, in the 1960s-1970s, a recognized British research institute in the field of hydraulics. At Citroën, this period corresponds to the development and industrial exploitation of the hydropneumatic suspension, a technology upon which a significant part of the brand's technical lead was based — which sheds light, outside of the document, on the sensitivity of the subject of industrial secrecy mentioned by Magès.

Archivist's perspective

This short but dense note provides a direct insight into Magès' doctrine regarding industrial property: he systematically favors the autonomy of the internal calculation department over the use of external expertise, whenever there is a risk of know-how leakage p. 1.

The document also illustrates, in a concrete way, the existence and role of this "very efficient" calculation department mentioned by Magès — a department whose practical trace can be found in contemporary pieces such as the Temperature test report on GS 1015 engine (1972), which testifies to the experimental work carried out that same year.

The names of Mr. Grosseau, Mr. Pierre Azou, Mr. Gerber and the companies REDAN/GURY are not otherwise identified in this document; their exact role remains unspecified.