Autonomous wheelchair, electric sidewalk scooter, and sustainable home!

In November 2019, in Lille, around forty students studying TETRA (Land Transport Engineering) and SMILE (Mechatronic Systems for Industrial Innovation) at the Grande École Arts et Métiers program worked in small groups with Rubika design students for a week on the themes of "robotics and disability" and "mobility and disability."
The result: around twenty highly original projects were presented, includingan autonomous wheelchair, a device for scuba diving,andthe kitchen of the future for blind people.
"The best results were achieved by the teams that collaborated the most," explain Philippe Carpentier, Olivier Thomas, and Richard Béarée, teachersat the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Lille. Discovering each other's expertise was an enriching experience for our students." It wasalsoan opportunityto raise awareness among these future managers about disability issues, complementing the conferences organized each year at the start of the academic year as part of the Hanploi & School program (more information).

Another example is in Châlons-en-Champagne, where students are developing aweekly planner for people with Alzheimer's diseaseas part of a project.

Arts et Métiers students Arts et Métiers also passionate about sustainable development! This is evidenced by projects initiated in Bordeaux, a leading campus in this field, driven by eco-design research conducted at the I2M laboratory.
In June, second-year engineering students had the opportunity to work on case studies for the company Tergys. This allowed them to explore various concepts related to sustainable development, their origins (circular economy, Earth's limits, millennium goals, etc.) and the associated management tools in different types of environments: campsites, amusement parks, gas stations, laundromats, andmore (more information).
Also in 2019, other second-year students completed an internship in Dubai in August to work on a prototypesustainable house adapted to extreme heat(more information).
And many of the Bordeaux PJTs (6 out of 18), which were defended on January 16 and 17, focus on this theme: self-sufficient vegetable gardens, electric sidewalk pods, additive manufacturing of wind turbine blades, zero-waste construction sites, optimization of waste from solar desalination plants, development of a database of composite materials and recycling channels for the aeronautics industry,and more.
The Bachelor of Technology students are also showing their commitment. For example, they designed asecure locker for homeless people tostore their personal belongings (more information) during the Picto competition held by first-year students last May.

Students from all programs at Châlons-en-Champagne were able to participate in the 2020 design challenge on January 11 and 12, focusing onelectrostimulation cycling forthe Cybathlon, an international sports competition for "cybernetic" athletes.  The bachelor's degree team won with a system that perfectly met the specifications and was well suited to different body types.

The theme of sustainable development is also very present in the courses offered at Chambéry, an institute dedicated to the environment that works closely with the I2M teams in Bordeaux. Similarly, Cluny, with its woodworking program, offers innovative alternatives in construction, which is reflected in the curriculum through a third-year specialization. Finally, in Lille, the campus offers courses focused on energy efficiency and electric and autonomous vehicles. 

"Building on the wealth of experience and projects carried out by students, the aim is to further strengthen the learning outcomes (AAV) focused on sustainable development in the programs," concludes Xavier Kestelyn, Deputy Director General for Training.