First-year studentsyear of the Grande École Program (PGE) spent two days at the beginning of January engaging in lively discussions, reflection, and learning. This return to school provided an opportunity to address two major themes for their training and for the engineers of tomorrow: the skills-based approach and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
An immersion in the responsible use of AI
Half a day was devoted to CAIRE training—teaching tomorrow's citizens how to use AI responsibly. Students learned about the ethical, societal, and technical issues related to AI, gaining a better understanding of the opportunities it offers, as well as the limitations and responsibilities associated with its use. This awareness-raising initiative is fully in line with the school's commitment to guiding future engineers toward an informed and responsible approach to emerging technologies.
Skills-based approach: understand, analyze, demonstrate
The rest of these two days was devoted to learning about the competency-based approach, which will be gradually rolled out until it is fully implemented at the start of the 2026 school year.
The students worked on the five skill sets that structure their training. They first took the time to identify the skills they had used during the first semester, then were asked to find evidence of their acquisition: projects, work submitted, experiences, community involvement, etc.
This analysis work resulted in a presentation in the lecture hall, given in front of the campus teachers. It was a powerful moment, which allowed the students to verbalize what they had learned and enabled the teaching teams to discuss their progress, questions, and perspectives with them.
Towards building a skills portfolio
These two days concluded with a constructive exchange between teachers and students. Each student will now begin creating their skills portfolio, an essential tool for tracking their progress, highlighting their achievements, and fostering dialogue with their academic advisor.
This dynamic marks an important step in the school's educational transformation, with a clear objective: to support each student in developing solid, explicit, and recognized skills that are consistent with the expectations of the professional world.
