Integrating business needs into students' academic careers is now a reality with the InnovAM Challenge (Innovating with Arts et Métiers). Following the huge success of the first edition in 2018, the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers is repeating the experience, immersing 75 second-year students from the Grande Ecole Program in the business world for a week. New for this second edition, InnovAM has been certified by French Fab as part of the launch of its"French Fab Challenge."
InnovAM Challenge: an innovative school-business partnership
Launched in 2018 and integrated into the educational model of theGrande Ecole Program curriculum, the second edition of "InnovAM" (Innovating with Arts et Métiers) will take place this year from December 13 to 20, 2019. Seventy-five second-year Grande Ecole Program students will be divided into 16 groups of four or five students and will have one week to work on concrete projects and provide innovative solutions to the school's partners.
This year, students will tackle various issues and themes such as:
- Take on the role of a LEAN coach by leading a Kaizen project on a tractor assembly line workstation CLAAS.
- for the company MEGGITT (aerospace subcontractor), students will be asked to come up with storage solutions and assembly tools that are compatible with the objectives of the 5S
- Work on the development of a new hydrocleaning unit for hazardous industrial waste for the company ORTEC (customized industrial cleaning solutions)
- for the local public company ALTER (land developer in Maine-et-Loire), students will have to solve the problem of planting vegetation without compromising the stability and durability of an existing building.
An educational project that meets the needs of manufacturers
"The goal this week is to have students work in teams in 'project mode' and in total immersion, in collaboration with the school's professional partners and accompanied by campus teachers ," explains Anne Morel, Deputy Director in charge of training. " This initiative is consistent with our position of training the talents of the industry of the future, and this educational project clearly demonstrates our desire to align the targeted learning outcomes with the needs of manufacturers," adds Anne Morel. At the end of the lnnovAM challenge, the student teams will present their solutions to partner companies. The most relevant solutions may then be implemented within the company.
This is a real opportunity for our students, as it will enable them to present concrete actions to their sponsors, which is a real source of motivation for them!
The three major benefits of this challenge for students:
- practical application of the skills acquired in class in a real-world context
- discovering theworld of business and industrial reality
- work as a team on very specific issues
A challenge approved by students and companies!
Feedback from companies has also been very positive, as Francis Bonlieu, Engineering Director at Alfi Technologies, explains. " This different approach to the student-business relationship, which combines student creativity with an industrial problem, has led us down innovative paths. Thank you to the École des Arts et Métiers involving us in this challenge, and thank you to the students for their commitment and energy."
It was really good, and should be repeated as often as possible because it's a week where you feel truly involved in your work and want to do your best to address the company's issues," explains a student who took part in the first edition!
InnovAM: a challenge certified by French Fab Challenge
New for this second edition, the lnnovAM initiative inspired the launch of the "French fab Challenge" led by the Pays de la Loire region, which brings together higher education institutions including Arts et Métiers. The "French fab Challenge" is "a challenge for all inspired students to improve the performance of industries in the Pays de la Loire region." Via a website , www.frenchfabchallenge.fr,it connects participating schools, including Arts et Métiers, with industrial companies in the Pays de la Loire region that want to mobilize students to meet their needs. Their issues are then integrated into teaching sequences.
"The French Fab Challenge is a way to provide very concrete support to SMEs in meeting the challenges of the industry of the future. It gives them access to the skills of students and teacher-researchers and provides them with a variety of solutions. It's a win-win challenge,", explain Jean Quessada, Director of the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers , and Yann Jaubert, Maine-et-Loire ambassador for French Fab and CEOof Alfi Technologies.
