Clément Rousseau, Jean Chanjou-Leclercq, and Maxime Duret, engineering students specializing in this field at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Bordeaux, have been selected for the final round of the "Olympiades des Métiers" competition, which will take place in Russia in August.
Clément Rousseau, Jean Chanjou-Leclercq, and Maxime Duret, all three third-year engineering apprentices in Production and Maintenance at the Bordeaux campus, took part in the international competition "Olympiades des Métiers" (Worldskills in English), in the "Industrial Production" category.
After winning the regional phase in March 2018 and then obtaining the silver medal in the national phase last December, they were selected in mid-February 2019 to represent France in this prestigious competition.
Meet a winning team whose motto is: "Alone, we go faster; together, we go further."
What motivated you to enter this contest?
Former apprentices from our training program who had participated in the competition came to present the Olympiads in class. We decided to take part in the adventure following this presentation. We wanted to develop additional skills. And this competition requires advanced technical expertise, combined with strong interpersonal and organizational skills.
We have seen for ourselves that the skills development is exceptional. The further you progress in the competition, the more human, technical, and financial resources you have available for training.
We have met some wonderful people and discovered many different professions, and this will continue with our integration into the French team.
This adventure is allowing us to build a solid foundation for our professional future. During the competition, we learned to work under pressure, manage our stress, and above all, demonstrate team spirit. If we have gotten this far today, it is thanks to our main strength: cohesion.
What were the main difficulties?
The main difficulty was getting up to speed technically. The practical and theoretical knowledge we acquired during our post-baccalaureate studies was not sufficient to pass the competition tests. As a result, we trained in the workshop, atArts et Métiers in companies to acquire the necessary skills in conventional and digital machining, metalworking, CAD/CAM, electronics, assembly, etc.
To do this, we had to raise awareness among those responsible for our training, teachers, and professionals, and convince them to help us.
How did Arts et Métiers help you Arts et Métiers
Maxime and Jean were trained by Israel Robles in conventional and digital machining. In addition, machines were made available to us, including a conventional milling machine and lathe, as well as a CNC machining center similar to the one used in the competition. This support enabled us to achieve excellent results in machining during the final tests.
How will you prepare for the final?
Our preparations for the international final are following a very specific schedule. First, there is the wheelchair design phase, based on the specifications. At the same time, we will be building prototypes to validate our solutions and improve our design. To this end, we have formed a design team with three professionals and a mechanics teacher. In addition, we plan to draw on the expertise of former contestants and trainers (Arts et Métiers CFAI) to ensure we meet the required international standards.
We will also benefit from two weeks of physical and mental training organized by WorldSkills France, as well as technical training with professionals.
The perspective of Israel Robles, design engineer at the Mechanical Processes Division
How did you support the students in their challenge?
We provided the apprentices with modern CNC machines and various conventional machines. We also gave them technical and educational support so that they could implement the development of their project.
What do students gain from participating in this type of competition?
This allows them to acquire a solid knowledge base that helps them solve concrete and sometimes complex technological problems related to the design, implementation, and development of products, systems, or services. They also gain experience in innovating, developing, and visualizing participatory collaboration. It is ideal for honing their skills in their future field of activity and also learning to work in a team.
What advice do you give them to prepare for the final?
Personally, I would advise them to analyze their needs and available resources, to make sure they don't lose sight of their goal, and to always remain focused on organization and quality with great rigor.
Our society needs people who are interested in analyzing and solving problems.
And finally, they should know that there is nothing more motivating than representing their field of activity, their family, their friends, and above all, their country, France!
