The "Greentech Week by Arts et Métiers brought together 150 students in Aix-en-Provence to discuss environmental issues. Organized from April 16 to 18 by the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers , this week raised awareness among local students, who are the innovators of tomorrow, about the most pressing challenges facing the planet.
A look back at the finals of the "Invent for the Planet" hackathon and the "Sprint for Impact" challenge, which took place on April 18, 2024.
Tie for first place in the "Invent for the Planet" hackathon
Held for the first time outside the United States, the international final of the " Invent for the Planet " (IFTP) hackathon, 2024 edition, was held in Aix-en-Provence, in collaboration with Texas A&M University Engineering (TAMU), which has been the initiator of the event since 2019 in its international dimension and a strategic partner of the Arts et Métiers Campus Arts et Métiers .
Among the six finalist teams from Brazil, Spain, France, Greece, Mexico, and Pakistan, the international jury awarded three projects:
Joint first prize for:
• AquaVein, presented by a teamArts et Métiers TAMU, for its system for recovering drinking water naturally filtered by banana trees through a clay filter.
Relying on local resources such as banana trees, clay, and sand, AquaVein offers a sustainable and easily adaptable filtration system. By empowering local populations and using natural materials, AquaVein promises to make clean and safe water accessible to all.
It was an enriching experience for students such as Etan Gentil, a first-year student in the Grande Ecole program at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers and a member of the AquaVein team: " It taught me a lot about the different roles within a company, because we took on all the different roles in a small start-up. But above all, it was the experience and the help we received from our contacts that will remain the most powerful and important lesson. We learned how to talk to investors, organize a presentation, present in English, take into account the CSR criteria of a foreign country by contacting people from all over the world, and above all, discover people with a different vision than that of French engineering students like ourselves. "
PRESENTATION OF THE FIRST PRIZE – INVENT FOR THE PLANET HACKATHON IN THE PRESENCE OF BRUNO CASSETTE, DEPUTY PREFECT OF THE PAYS D'AIX, AND SALAH-EDDINE KHOUIEL, REPRESENTING MAYOR SOPHIE JOISSAINS
• Off the Grid, presented by a team from E.T.S.A.M. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, for its innovative sterilization solution
Their autoclave operates off-grid and uses a simple, adaptable solar concentrator to produce the steam needed to sterilize surgical equipment. By harnessing solar energy, their innovative sterilization solution offers a sustainable alternative to traditional methods, ensuring clean and readily available medical equipment, even in remote areas.
"Invent for the Planet was an extraordinary opportunity, " said Sofia Puche Moreno, a mechanical and industrial engineering student and member of the Off the Grid team. " I met people from different continents. I learned other ways of thinking and understood that the same problems affect every part of the world differently."
Third prize went to:
PureFlow from the Pakistani team at Habib University, for its innovative solution for collecting and purifying rainwater, with the aim of providing drinking water to communities. The team prototyped a dual-purpose solution using a reservoir and filtration system to ensure a continuous water supply during Papua New Guinea's eight-month rainy season and four-month dry season. This dual-purpose solution is a sustainable and cost-effective way to combat water scarcity.
INTRODUCING THE THREE WINNING TEAMS: AQUAVEIN, OFF THE GRID, AND PUREFLOW
The Audience Choice Award also honored the French-American team that presented AquaVein.
" The magic formula can be summed up in one word: LEARN," chanted Prof. Féthi Ben Ouezdou, director of the Arts et Métiers campus, Arts et Métiers the event. " Our mission is to train, raise awareness, acculturate, sow the seeds of innovation, and position ourselves as agents of change, because students around the world hold the solutions of tomorrow in their hands."
Jim Donnell, professor of practice and director of the Meloy Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program at Texas A&M University, who was present at the event, discussed the origins and objectives of this hackathon: " The main reasons we created IFTP were to encourage entrepreneurship, promote the exchange of amazing ideas across borders and cultures, and emphasize the fact that 'the sun never sets on innovation.'
Our objectives are as follows:
- Bringing industry and academia together in a collaborative setting
- Enabling students to use what they have learned in the classroom in a "real-world" context.
- Addressing meaningful problems in a setting where students learn to manage the stress of "time constraints" and "information gaps."
- Provide students with opportunities to learn and practice presentation skills.
- Promote the value of working in interdisciplinary teams.
To relive the entire event, click here.
Testimonials from Etan Gentil, Eliott Pybril, and Virgile Fabresse, first-year students in the Grande Ecole Program, joint winners of the " Invent for the Planet " hackathon.
Salah Khouiel, Deputy Mayor of Aix-en-Provence, Etan Gentil, student, Maria Alvès, Senior Director, Engineering Global Programs at Texas A&M, Féthi Ben Ouezdou, Campus Director, Virgile Fabresse, student, Eliott PRybil, student, and Sandra Cologne, Head of the PEIT program at Arts et Métiers.
- How did you find this challenge?
Etan. I saw this challenge as an introduction to the world of entrepreneurship. The first qualifying weekend was very well organized by the school, a bit like in the US, and we could already feel the international stakes at that point!
Then, for two months, it was a marathon: a little work every day, ideas, failures, contacts, rejections, lots of enriching experiences and discussions with interested and interesting contributors who guided us through every part of our project, whether it was the engineering, commercial, or social side.
Things really intensified in the second and final month before the final. There was a lot of soul-searching and last-minute changes. Thanks to Béatrix Matthieu-Adamo, a speaker at IAE, who perfectly framed and guided us in knowing what to say to investors, what language to use, what visuals to choose, etc.
The last week was really the most intense. We asked ourselves a lot of questions: Are we legitimate? Do we meet the jury's criteria? Is the project truly innovative? And many others.
On the day of the final, we made sure we had no regrets.
After carefully weighing each word of the presentation and condensing it into 90 seconds, we were able to perform in front of a very diverse audience. Once we were relieved that it was over, we were on cloud nine. Without a doubt, the craziest experience of our lives had just come to an end.
Eliott. I think we seemed pretty comfortable on stage, even though we admitted later that we were very stressed.
What did you learn from that?
Virgile. The winner is not always the best in technical terms. Many factors, such as the project's integration into its environment or its ecological and social impact, are also decisive factors in the jury's choice. A well-balanced solution in all areas is therefore more likely to be selected than a marvel of pure technology or ecology.
What did you like?
Etan. I really enjoyed this introduction to the world of entrepreneurship. It was definitely a challenge that inspired me to start my own business one day and showed me how to get off to a good start.
The human contact I had with my classmates and with our contacts abroad opened my eyes to people and the world like never before.
Virgile. What I liked most was the freedom to innovate. Unlike courses where you spend a lot of time reviewing well-established solutions, IFTP allows you to freely explore new solutions to unconventional problems.
On the day of the final, we lived it in such a way that we had absolutely no regrets.
Sprint for Impact: 54 hours to develop a project
Sprint for Impact is a challenge co-organized with the Startup Aix-Marseille association, in partnership with Cleantech, the Pays d'Aix business incubator network, and Marseille Innovation.
Nine start-ups worked during this 54-hour non-stop challenge, alongside studentsArts et Métiers, doctoral schools at Aix-Marseille University, and the Alternance group, to address a real challenge facing their company.
They presented their project, which had been developed over two days at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers , on Thursday, April 18 at the Convention Center, to a pool of high-level investors: Jean de la Rochebrochard (Kima Venture), Séverine Grégoire (Zebox Ventures), Alex Gerbaud (Innovacom), Jean-Marc Clerc (WiSEED), Jonathan Laroussinie (Rise partners), Frédéric Valette (Provence Business Angels), David Bastian (Kiss studio), and Thierry Bourdillon (Crédit agricole).
The best teams will thus be able to take advantage of funding to continue their development.
