ELGi proud to have supported Zara Rutherford in becoming the youngest woman to solo circumnavigate the globe

20 Jan 2022

The Belgian-British teenager clocked 51,000 kilometres solo, hoping to pave the way for girls and women to follow their dreams in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

Waterloo, Belgium January 17^th, 2022: ELGi Compressors Europe, a subsidiary of ELGi Equipments Limited, one of the world’s leading air compressor manufacturers, with over 2 million installations across 120 countries, proudly sponsored 19-year-old Zara Rutherford's record-setting solo flight around the globe.

Zara completed her incredible journey across 52 countries and five continents, landing safely at International Airport Kortrijk-Wevelgem in Belgium, from where she set out on the 18th of August in 2021.

Chris Ringlstetter, President at ELGi Europe, said “Zara is an impressive young woman, and ELGi is proud to have sponsored her on this remarkable journey as well as helping to raise awareness about gender equality. As an industrial air compressor manufacturer, we are actively looking for more female engineers to join us in developing cutting-edge compressed air technology as we redefine reliability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness across our 2+ million installations worldwide. But first, this means motivating more girls and women to get involved in STEM, and we are confident that Zara’s journey will inspire many.”

Once validated by Guinness World Records, Zara will have achieved three important records in her achievement:

She will be the youngest woman to fly solo around the world;
She will be the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in a microlight plane; and
She will be the first Belgian to circumnavigate the world solo in a single-engine aircraft

Throughout Zara’s world record-breaking journey, she spent time meeting with local ELGians. On the 29th of August 2021, she stopped in First Flight, North Carolina (United States), to meet with Anvar Jay Varadaraj, Executive Director, and Alex Moreno, Marketing Specialist of ELGi North America. Recently she touched down in Coimbatore, India on the 30th of December 2021 meeting ELGi senior leadership, including Dr. Jairam Varadaraj, Managing Director, Elgi Equipments Limited, and over 40 representatives from the press.

Zara Rutherford hopes her journey will help highlight the gender gap in aviation and STEM-related careers. Over the course of her 51,000-km route, Zara crossed the equator twice and has been meeting with local youth to bring more visibility to aviation and STEM, specifically for young girls. While the estimated total fuel for her trip was equivalent to the amount used by a Boeing in about 10 minutes of runway taxiing, Zara is investing her own funds on tree-planting projects to offset her carbon footprint. Her next journey will see her pursue a degree in computer science & computer engineering, and she intends to continue flying with her sights set on becoming an astronaut.

About ELGi

Elgi Compressors is a global air compressor manufacturer with operations in nearly all European countries with a broad line of innovative and technologically superior compressed air systems. ELGi has consistently worked towards ensuring that its customers achieve their productivity goals while keeping the cost of ownership low. ELGi offers a complete range of compressed air solutions from oil-lubricated and oil-free rotary screw compressors, oil-lubricated and oil-free reciprocating compressors and centrifugal compressors, to dryers, filters and downstream accessories. The company’s portfolio of over 400 products has found wide applications across industries. For further information on the organisation and its products, please visit www.elgi.com/eu

Media Contacts:

Jennifer Gerold
Marketing Manager – Europe
T +32 496 28 09 38

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Michał Karkoszka
NoBorders Communications
T +48 601 077 932

E [email protected]