The Châlons-en-Champagne campus has developed a project aimed at modernizing the smelting facilities in the campus's educational foundry. This project, led by Cédric Mathieu, is being implemented as part of the Evolutives Learning Factories (ELF) initiative.
"This is an institutional project that we need to take advantage of," explains Cédric Mathieu about the ELF project. Since November 2023, he has been leading a national working group on furnaces and melting focused on ELF. This group's mission is to map needs, analyze energy consumption, and develop new skills. "It's an opportunity to work on the technology I enjoy, while collaborating with colleagues from the six campuses with foundries. It allows me to keep an eye on technological developments and strengthen ties with industry," he explains.
The birth of the foundry merger project
The project emerged during a foundry seminar in March 2023 in Lille, where it became clear that the foundry equipment was obsolete and needed upgrading. Replacing the old equipment, dating from 1970 and 1981, was a necessity for safety and efficiency reasons. Following this realization, the project to renew the smelting facilities began in June 2023. The proposal, put together with the help of Jesús Ochoa Robles, Industrial Engineering teacher and head of the Specialized Engineering Program, and Giovanni Radilla, campus director, was accepted. The following steps were then taken: estimates, specifications, and presentation to the ELF committee in January 2024.
An investment involving several departments
The foundry melting project represents a total investment of €120,000. It is subsidized 50% by AMTALENTS and 50% by the ELF project.
Structured into two sub-projects, it includes a Nabertherm melting and holding furnace worth over €23,000. The second piece of equipment, costing €90,000, consists of an EFD melting generator, a push furnace, and a tilting furnace. The development of this project was a true team effort involving Cédric, accompanied by SATER staff and the campus maintenance department, who prepared the area, installed the equipment on site, and commissioned it.
A project soon to be operational
The first sub-project has been operational since May, while the second will be installed during the summer and will be commissioned in September 2024. By the start of the next academic year, the campus will have a fully modernized fusion facility. The advantage of this project is that it will provide next-generation facilities offering numerous benefits: energy savings, real-time data acquisition, enhanced safety, and the development of new teaching sequences. "We will be able to melt faster and more safely, which will benefit training, research, and ELF projects, thereby contributing to the industry of the future," emphasizes Cédric.
Once completed, this project will make the Châlons-en-Champagne campus the first to have a 100% retrofitted fusion park, meeting the requirements of Evolutive Learning Factories as well as the needs of training and research.
