The Paris campus is transforming its teaching spaces into workshops working together on the theme of sustainable health.
 

Featured project: the prosthetic foot

Prostheses, orthoses, and exoskeletons fall, by definition, within the regulatory scope of medical devices when their purpose is to compensate for a disability. These devices are subject to so many constraints (weight, bulk, reliability, safety, noise, temperature, impact, etc.) that their development requires constantly challenging the state of the art in technology.
This gave rise to the idea of creating a case study in which, over the course of a semester, students work on designing a prosthetic foot for children, from software design to the testing room, including 3D printing of prototypes.

On the rest of the campus

The campus ELF project is based on the observation that it is possible to bring together the five laboratories on campus around a single theme: sustainable health. 
 

Practical information

Contact: Claudio VERGARI
Communications Officer: Juliette Bouillot

The Lille campus is transforming its educational platforms to meet the challenges of the industry of the future and train the people who will drive its transformation. 

Featured project: the cobotized assembly line

Cobotics, the science that focuses on collaboration between humans and robots, is being showcased at the school's factory on the Lille campus! Thanks to a project to improve the robotic assembly area of its technology hall, within the physical and digital systems engineering laboratory (LISPEN), the school has acquired several mobile robotic platforms and robotic arms.

The goal: to have animmersive, safe, and welcoming place foreducational experimentation.  This open space has been designed to be reconfigurable and to allow for the crossover between different themes (foundry, machining, industrial management, robotics, etc.). Students' independent access to resources has been enhanced and continues to be developed, enabling them to better grasp topics related to production organization and support functions.

Operational since 2023, the facility also serves as a showcase for the laboratory and the institution. An investment of €144k in robotics for reuse will complete the facility in 2026.

On the rest of the campus

The Lille campus is developing a realistic and eco-responsible industrial ecosystem throughout the product life cycle. This environment will be used to design and implement innovations in key applications (energy transition, light mobility, health, etc.). Several acquisition projects have been completed or are underway to equip the school with Industry 4.0 processes, such as a 5-axis machining center, 3D printers, and characterization machines.

Practical information

Correspondent: Maurice Lepoivre
Communications Officer: Emilie Rennuit

The Cluny campus is transforming its educational platforms to meet the challenges of the industry of the future, and in particular to enhance the appeal of careers in the woodworking sector. 

Featured project: Welding simulator

The ELF in Cluny has acquired a new welding simulator with funding from the Arts & Métiers Foundation and sponsorship from Comège. This demonstrator aims to help students discover and perfect welding techniques. 
Learners have access to physical equipment (welding test pieces, torches, welding machines, etc.) onto which virtual models are superimposed using augmented reality. Everything is viewed through a virtual reality headset. The goal isto immerse the learner in a world that provides the most realistic perceptions possible, both visually and auditorily. To make the immersion as effective as possible, equipment from FRONIUS, one of the world leaders in welding equipment, was chosen.

On the rest of the campus

The Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Cluny aims to create LAB LEAN 5.0 by the end of 2026, an innovative laboratory for experimentation, observation, and teaching focused on operators and new industrial technologies. This project, which combines the study and integration of Industry 5.0 advances in industrial performance, will place people at the heart of the process.
The project is structured around four areas: training and action, research and innovation, network coordination and knowledge dissemination, and business support. It aims to place students at the heart of the system, study the impact of advanced technologies on operators, develop concrete demonstrators of the industry of the future, and strengthen the links between education, business, and research. The project already benefits from the support of the NCU RITM-BFC program (reference ANR-17-NCUN-0003). 
At the same time, second- and third-year students in the Grande École Program will have access to a collaborative robot as part of their education. ROAM (Robot Collaboratif Arts et Métiers) is a demonstrator that incorporates innovative features and paves the way for educational projects combining technology and traditional know-how within the framework of Evolutive Learning Factories. 

Practical information

Correspondent: Guillaume Fromentin
Communications Officer: Frédéric Delmas

The Châlons-en-Champagne campus is transforming its educational platforms to meet the challenges of the industry of the future and train the people who will drive its transformation.

Featured project: Fusion Furnaces

The objective of the Fours Fusion project was to replace a "Ripoche" alloy melting furnace dating from 1980, used exclusively to keep the alloy molten, with another from the "Nabertherm" brand.
This furnace has the advantage of not requiring the alloy to be melted in another furnace before being poured into the holding furnace. It consumes 20 kW for melting and 5 kW for holding, which represents a saving of 61% compared to the holding function, which is widely used during educational sequences.
The installation of this new machine was the subject of a student project. 

On the rest of the campus

To meet the needs of industry as closely as possible, the campus has several technology platforms, including machining, plastic deformation, metrology, additive manufacturing, and foundry.
It is on this last platform that the fusion equipment has been renewed and improved, enabling new educational activities that are closer to industrial reality and allowing students to learn about future techniques in the sector.

Practical information

Correspondent: Francis Clovis
Communications Officer: Wendy Landragin
 

The Bordeaux campus is transforming its educational platforms to meet the challenges of the industry of the future and train the people who will drive its transformation.

Featured project: PrintBO

Located in the heart of the technology halls, the Bordeaux Fablab has been enhanced with several 3D printers thanks to the ELF program. The aim of the space is to enable students to prototype and repair their own parts, both for educational projects and, on an ad hoc basis, for personal projects.  

With a budget of over €10,000, financed by the ELF and investments from continuing education, five new machines were added.  

On the rest of the campus

The Bordeaux-Talence campus stands out for its approach, which covers the entire product life cycle: design, manufacturing, use, and end of life. The ELF program aligns teaching, research, and industrial transfer while leveraging existing platforms.

Students play a central role: ELF representatives are selected from among second-year students in Grande Ecole Engineering Programme PGE) and actively participate in implementing projects and organizing campus activities. Each fall, an ELF event highlights local initiatives and serves as a special opportunity to showcase achievements, strengthen the collective spirit, and secure new funding.

Led locally by Stéphane Chevalier, Fabian Magnin, and Frédéric Lalardie, ELF correspondents, this project is developing thanks to the joint involvement of students, teachers, and staff, thereby strengthening the campus's position in Bordeaux's academic and industrial ecosystem.

Practical information

Correspondent: Fabian Magnin

Communications Officer: Charlotte Pourtau 

The concept behind the Angers campus's factory-school is to represent a realistic and eco-responsible industrial environment throughout a product's life cycle. Within the ELF, particular attention is paid to the connectivity of equipment, whether new or old, in order to address modern data processing challenges, thus putting AI at the service of industry.

Featured projects  

InUse4ELF

In-Use for ELF (InUSE4ELF) is a project that aims to set up a data capture chain. It aims to collect, process, and store information from several machines funded by ELF.
Initially, it will focus on three units:
• The machining unit
• The foundry unit, in connection with the JENII project
•    The fatigue unit
It is also planned to report the electricity consumption of these different units. The data will be uploaded to the Cloud on the InUSE platform (https://inuse.eu/fr/) for processing and display.

Flow Cell – Instrumented Wind Tunnel

This project was funded by the foundation to the tune of €61k, in addition to funding from the school and public funds from OPCO2i.

This is anopen subsonic wind tunnel of the "Eiffel" type. It features a conventional test section for measuring the lift and drag of any type of airfoil. During tests, the measurements are displayed and will be connected to our databases. It also includes a module with a wind turbine demonstrator that allows the performance of these devices to be compared under different wind conditions, different incidences, and different blade angles. It was deployed in March 2025.

Foundry Unit – Industrialization & Sand Recycling
 

This project was funded by the foundation to the tune of €172k, in addition to funding from the school, AMValor, and public funds from JENII + OPCO2i.

This unit comprises several pieces of equipment: a molding machine, a green sand mixer, and a zero-gravity crane. They enable the green sand molding process to be implemented in a quasi-industrial context. This type of automated facility will enable the campus foundry unit to move from single-unit manufacturing to small-batch production, ensuring 100% recycling and regeneration of the materials used for the mold. Deployment in December 2025.

On the rest of the campus

In addition to developing the ELF program, the campus is adapting its spaces with support from the state, region, and local authorities in large-scale projects. A new technology hall was inaugurated in October 2025 as part of the 2015-2020 CPER (State-Region Partnership Contract). A project to renovate and refurbish the historic building, dating from 1930 and housing part of the ELF cells, is also underway as part of the 2021-2027 CPER. This refurbishment is expected to be completed in 2028 and will provide a new setting for the campus's ELF cells.

8 priority projects 

Practical information

Campus correspondent: Julien ARTOZOUL
Communications Officer: Lisa BOUVIER
 

The Aix campus continues to adapt its educational platforms into fully-fledged connected factory schools, integrating the technologies of the industry of the future. These environments, coupled with their digital twins, offer a unique learning tool that enables us to respond to the challenges of Industry 5.0 and train those involved in its transformation.

 Our goal is to radically transform our existing educational platforms to train engineering students to meet the current challenges of the industry of the future. The organization has been redesigned to create an evolving and innovative environment, including demonstrators from the campus research laboratories.

Prof. Féthi Ben Ouezdou, Director of the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers

Featured projects  

Discover three flagship projects of the ELF on the Aix campus

X-ray diffractometer 

This tool can be usedto analyze the internal structure of materials as well as their mechanical properties, whether they are metals, ceramics, polymers, or composites. Doctoral students are currently conducting research aimed at exploring and improving the materials used in the field of photovoltaics. 

Augmented mechanical analysis platform 

This platform allows for the precise characterization of the behavior of materials and structures subjected to mechanical stress, while integrating modern digital measurement and analysis tools. Second-year PGE students worked on this machine during a practical assignment entitled "Design and implementation of measurements by digital image correlation using mirrors on a mechanical testing machine." 

Plasma cutting machine 

The plasma cutting machine is capable of cutting complex 2D shapes on thicknesses ranging from 0.5 to 40 mm. This machine is integrated into the existing digital manufacturing chain.
Apprentices who participated in the WorldSkills 2025 competition won a bronze medal in the "Industrial Product Development" category. 

On the rest of the campus

• I am consulting the ELF Factory-School program for the Aix-en-Provence campus here.
• I consult existing and future technology platform projects here.

Practical information

Campus correspondent: Jean-Philippe PERNOT

Head of Communications and Events: Cécile PECHEUR