Bulk dispensers, 100% plant-based imitation leather, and piezoelectric converter control: three projects by PEIT students.
Anaelle Douziech Brisorgueil, Grande École program (Bordeaux): "tailored support"
"My project involves designing a 100% plant-based imitation leather, without any animal or plastic materials. This is an issue that interests luxury leather goods companies seeking to meet the expectations of their eco-friendly customers, but existing products have a spongy appearance, are not of very high quality, or contain plastic, which poses recycling problems.
I chose the PEIT program to develop my project and because I knew nothing about entrepreneurship. As part of this program, I conducted a market study that proved conclusive. I am now in the testing phase and have a few interesting leads involving the use of plants.
In my third year, I decided to go to Canada. I will continue my project remotely thanks to contacts provided by Sandra Cologne. First, the sustainable innovation manager at Kering, a global luxury group that will be able to give me the right direction to take and advise me on the prototype. Next, Jean-Marc Meurville, a teacher-researcher in Chambéry, who will guide me on the eco-design aspect.
I recommend the EIT program to students who have an idea but don't know how to go about starting their own business. We receive tailored support. But it's a commitment, there's work to be done, so you have to be really motivated."
Fanny Canoen, Grande École program (Lille): "Acquiring new and complementary skills"
"I joined Arts et Métiers September 2020, a school that had interested me since high school because I knew it trained skilled engineers who were in touch with the realities of the working world and industry. However, I was unaware of the wealth of courses offered in innovation and entrepreneurship.
At the end of my first year, I discovered the Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation Program. I seized this opportunity, already having a project in mind but not knowing how to get started. Thanks to this program, I was guided and was also able to work on my project.
There is no doubt that the PEIT contributed greatly to the launch of my business creation project.
This project involves developing dispensers for selling innovative products in bulk, i.e., without packaging, while offering customers a quick shopping experience. So far, we have been working on defining the offering: by focusing on the expectations and needs of all parties (consumers, supermarket chains, food manufacturers, etc.), we want to develop a solution that is attractive to everyone and therefore relevant.
Moreover, as part of the PEIT program, we are encouraged by the speakers to devote time to this exercise, which is not usual in our engineering training.
The main difficulty has been communicating with professionals in these sectors, but we are currently in discussions with a yogurt brand. We have also looked at current regulations and food preservation, areas that are outside our expertise but which have been very interesting to explore! Today, we have begun the development and design phase of the solution.
Following the PEIT program is particularly interesting because it allows us to exchange ideas with stakeholders and other project leaders, which enriches our thinking and helps our idea evolve. I strongly advise students to follow this program, whether or not they have a project, because it allows them to acquire new skills that complement those taught in the core curriculum.
In the coming weeks, I will be responding to calls for projects to make myself known. I hope to be able to make contacts with industry professionals so that I can benefit from their expertise in the future.
In August, I am going to India to continue my studies in my third year and will then resume the development of my project.
Vincent Jacquemain, doctoral student (Paris): "Competent, passionate, and accessible speakers."
"My colleague, electronics engineer Christophe Cheuleu, and I had the idea of putting my thesis work to good use. We worked on controlling piezoelectric converters. Piezoelectrics are materials that deform when an electric current is applied. By varying this current very rapidly, vibrations can be created. I applied these vibrations to metals to test their lifespan.
Christophe focused on creating the electronic control system for the piezoelectrics. Together, we have a good command of this technology. Our goal is to use it to carry out various tests on materials or structures for industrial companies.
While I was looking for support for our start-up project, the PEIT program was presented to me during a meeting with several representativesArts et Métiers AMVALOR. Christophe Cheuleu and I saw this training program as a great opportunity to gain entrepreneurial skills. Coming from a research background, we had very little knowledge in this area until then.
It's a relatively comprehensive program. Through multiple workshops, I learned to master important concepts that every entrepreneur needs to know. I can then apply them to my project (project scoping, market research, professional interview guide, etc.). The workshop leaders are knowledgeable, passionate, and available, which is ideal.
I have acquired knowledge that can then be transformed into skills, both in terms of entrepreneurship, to better organize my project and develop it, and in terms of marketing, to better target the objective of our approach. In particular, I was able to analyze my idea, identify potential customers, and develop an approach to interview them in order to obtain valuable information that will enable me to accurately assess the size of the market I will be targeting.
Today, we are in the process of creating a start-up that will be hosted by the incubator on the Paris campus. The goal right now is to clearly identify our customers' needs and problems so that we can use our skills to help them.
