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 fundamentally transform our existing educational platforms to train engineering students in a way that closely aligns with the current challenges of the industry of the future. The organization is being redesigned to create a dynamic and innovative environment, incorporating demonstrations 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