Meriem Touat teaches atISTP to the first class of Arts et Métiers students. In her research, she is affiliated with the LISPEN laboratory (Chalon-sur-Saône). She works atthe Institut Henri Fayol/Mines de Saint-Étienne, in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.
Juggling daily life between two schools
Her weeks are divided between computer science and industrial automation courses, team meetings, and planning educational updates for next year.Arts et Métiers Even though I teach at ISTP, I feel fully part of Arts et Métiers, alongsideArts et Métiers students,Arts et Métiers emphasizes Meriem Touat. The position also involves an organizational challenge: Meriem Touat works across two institutions and coordinates technical adjustments for certain course units.
RéCLasSIF, a starting point for collaboration
This arrangement is part of the collaboration between Mines de Saint-Étienne and Arts et Métiers, within the framework of the RéCLasSIF project. Meriem benefits from a shared work environment and regular exchanges with the teams. Several initiatives are underway. She also co-supervises Master of Science students alongside colleagues from Mines de Saint-Étienne and has access to their experimental platforms with a view to transitioning these projects into doctoral theses.
Optimize scheduling, conduct immersive testing
His work focuses on resource scheduling to optimize criteria such as costs, lead times, and efficiency, both in stable and uncertain environments. An example: a factory that combines cobots and human operators. The goal is to organize the entire system in a way that is resilient to unforeseen events. “To achieve this, we draw on applied mathematics, operations research, artificial intelligence, as well as virtual reality and digital twins, and then test these approaches on physical platforms,” she explains.
Her educational philosophy can be summed up in one sentence: “Never underestimate any form of knowledge.” For future engineers trained through apprenticeships, she identifies one key skill: “patience.”
- Words that describe your work style: continuous improvement, taking a step back
- A book, a resource, or a tool you recommend: the classic Schaum’s series in French (especially the math books)!
- Your greatest satisfaction as a teacher: when everything clicks and the students say, “Yeah, this works.”
- A research question you’d like to tackle someday: there are several I’d rather keep to myself, but I’m truly fascinated by the big-picture view of systems. For example, a digital twin capable of visualizing an entire supply chain in an immersive environment—or even a digital twin that’s even more comprehensive.
