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Published: 07 December 2023

Our community relies on our team, regional groups, students and alumni. We have several gadz groups all over the United States.

In California there are two active groups: one with its center in San Francisco and another one - in Southern California.

At the beginning of December our two groups organized two events:

1) gadz gathering in SF, in a Zeitgeist bar - to meet alumni and also to get to know our news students who are currently studying in UC Berkeley

2) a very small gathering of Southern California-based gadz'arts in a cosy coast waterfront restaurant ( please see the picture below)

We wish all our groups and our community a very nice and productive 2024 and a lot of news gatherings and events in the future!

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Published: 07 December 2023

Please meet GT Europe students Fanny Barroso-Roca (Me 221), Rémy Grandgeorges (Me 221), Louis Despruniée (An 221). They started their semester in Georgia Tech Europe  on Aug 21, 2023 and will continue studying at Georgia Tech Atlanta in 2024. In between those two semesters in Metz and Atlanta, students will need to follow an internship.

AFAM: Hello! Please tell us a few words about yourselves.

Fanny:  We are all enrolled in our last year at Arts et Metiers on Metz campus, and we are having classes on Georgia Tech Europe campus to get a dual diploma A&M-GT.

Rémy:

I've always had a passion for industry, particularly mechanics and aeronautics. As I wasn't able to specialize in these fields at Arts-et-Métiers, I decided to do a double degree with GeorgiaTech. GeorgiaTech is an opportunity for me to study at an international, recognized university, specializing in the fields I love.

Louis:

I integrated Arts et Métiers after my DUT (two-year post-secondary technical diploma) in mechanical engineering. I love mechanics and that’s why I chose to pursue my studies in this field. Since I have been at the Arts et Métiers, I knew that I wanted to join the double-degree program. It's an opportunity to obtain an internationally recognized diploma, especially in the United States.

AFAM: What's your weekly schedule with two schools right now?

Louis: In Georgia Tech I am having 1 math class on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the 3 other mechanical engineering classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays (each class is twice a week).

On Fridays, we don't have classes at GeorgiaTech, but usually we have classes all day long at Arts et Métiers.

Fanny and Rémy: we have four classes at Georgia Tech and two classes at Arts et Metiers. At GT Europe we are taking acoustics, wind engineering, and fundamental fracture mechanics.

And our favorite is wind engineering.

AFAM: Why do you like wind engineering?

Fanny: It is a project-based class. You can see a financial aspect, installation, energy production. I have chosen Costa Rica as a place to study. This class is all about your choices and your decisions and what you are going to do as an engineer.

Rémy: Wind engineering is a subject I chose because I found it extremely interesting and had never studied it before. The aim of this course is to carry out a project to implement a wind turbine in a chosen location. In other words, to choose the location (I chose Denmark in particular because of its European involvement in the development of this technology), to dimension the wind turbine, to simulate power and energy production, to draw up a provisional budget for the installation and finally to study the environmental impact (noise, birds, etc.).

So, it's a very exciting course and I recommend it 100%.

AFAM: And what about you, Louis? Is wind engineering your favorite class too?

Louis: Actually, I am not taking this class, I am taking a mathematical method for applied sciences. And my favorite class is Principles of Continuum Mechanics because mechanics is the subject that I have preferred since the beginning at the University. This year we started from very basic principles of mechanics and physics and can observe some demonstrations involving much more complexity. To fully understand formulas instead of just learning them - that’s what I love about this class.

AFAM: do you feel your schedule and workload is much more intense than it would be with just at Arts et Metiers?

Rémy: At GTE, we have far fewer lessons (only 4 lessons a week, so 2 hours a day), whereas at Arts-et-Métiers we had around 7 hours a day. So, the timetable is lighter, but there's a lot more work to do at home, so I think that makes up for it. The courses are much more interesting, so I learn a lot about very specific subjects, how to write reports, do calculations and think more generally in English.

Louis: Yes, I feel that the workload is intense. The most disturbing thing is that most French students who did not come from Arts et Métiers have the same hourly workload as us at Georgia Tech, but without having additional courses in their home institution. I found the beginning of the year very challenging in terms of workload. I am not used to having only lectures without direct studies. When you come from the French system, it is extremely disconcerting.

AFAM: do you interact with American students while on GT Europe campus? Any projects, activities you are doing together in school or outside of the school?

Louis: I haven't had many interactions with Americans beyond informal exchanges during outings organized by the school. It's worth noting that at Georgia Tech Europe, Americans, especially at the master's level, are in the minority. We have many French, students from the Maghreb, two or three Italians and Spaniards, some Indians, and I'm probably forgetting others.

Rémy: It's quite complicated to collaborate with the Americans on work because we stay pretty much with the Arts-et-Métiers group, due to the fact that we're in the Arts residence (not the same as the Americans) so it's easier to work as a group. However, the events organized by GTE allow us to exchange and mix (speed-dating, organized meals, events and parties...)

AFAM: you are going to Atlanta in August 2024 for your semester in GT Atlanta. What are the things you would like to do/see/visit, classes you are willing to take? Is there anything you would like to share with us?

Louis: Depending on the workload, I hope to have the time to explore Georgia a bit, but I haven't thought about that aspect yet. Regarding courses, I may pursue minors, particularly in a specific subject: legal issues in technological transfer.

Rémy: I'm really looking forward to going to the United States, mainly for the culture of the country, being able to visit cities, go on road trips, have great parties... The few courses we'll have in Atlanta will really allow us to take advantage of American student life. I plan to specialize in aeronautics, which is really my passion, and GeorgiaTech has a good reputation in this field for offering high-quality, recognized training. It's still difficult for me to decide which courses to take now, as it will depend mainly on my end-of-study internship.

I'm really looking forward to discovering American culture and student life.

AFAM: thank you very much! And good luck in your future endeavors! See you in Atlanta!

AFAM community manager in Metz with Fanny and Rémy

Louis, Fanny and Rémy in Metz lab

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Published: 27 November 2023

It is a good tradition for AFAM to meet students and teams once a year as AFAM community manager visits different campuses every year in November. It allows AFAM to speak about its programs and share its vision with students and faculty members.

This year Albina Patou-Chebykina, AFAM community manager, visited three campuses: Paris, Aix-en-Provence and Metz.

Besides meeting students and apprentice students, Albina also met faculty members in charges of students' mobility, parcours US, Georgia Tech Europe and Texas A&M exchange programs etc.

Here are some moments with students caught on camera during Albina's visit:

Walking in the school's hallway to meet students

Hello, parcours US students! Happy to meet you and looking forward to see you in the USA in 2024!

Students and apprentice students met in Metz. There were 20 students who came to know more about AFAM and its programs.

Besides, Albina organized an "Internship search" workshop for Metz-based students. Here are the participants alongside with Marlène Juncal-Demski, BREI who AFAM would like to thank for organizing the program in Metz.

Albina together with Georgia Tech Europe students Fanny Barroso-Roca and Rémy Grandgeorges

Albina also visited Aix-en-Provence campus where she could share information about AFAM Programs with students and answer all the questions.

Thank you very much to Aix campus' director Féthi Ben Ouezdou for the warm welcome and to Karine Canivet, BREI, for the organization.

To know more about AFAM and our programs for students and alumni, please visit our website and contact Albina Patou-Chebykina for more information and to sign-up.

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Published: 31 October 2023

AFAM published “Green and Clean” series interviews with Julien Artur de la Villarmois ( Cl 218), R&D engineer at Airthium and Guénaël Prince ( Cl 201), co-founder and CEO of Waga Energy.  

We continue our journey exploring environmental careers in the United States and in France.  

Our next interviewee is Raphael Zaccardi (Cl 182), who is building a CEC project (Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat)  

AFAM: Hello Raphael and thank you for agreeing to answer my questions.

First of all, you spent 36 years at Caterpillar Inc, in France, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Germany and the US. Please tell us a few words about your long career at Caterpillar and how come you focus today on Regenerative Economy?  

Raphael: Well, difficult to summarize such an extensive and diverse experience with a world leader in construction and energy solutions. I did grow within the group by acquisition of knowledge and experiences but mailing by getting in charge of projects of scope, growing over the years. A project could be the redesign of a new assembly line, conceiving it with the best engineering teams, and more importantly, executing the transformation and making it come true, being in charge of the outcome afterwards – this was a very important learning for me all along. Similarly, when I was in charge of a manufacturing plant abroad, I had to lead, engage and get results according to my commitment.

The second very important Ingredient to my career was international experience – in Managing Director positions of small to medium size units - accepting to relocate with my family and living the company from a different angle, business perspective but most importantly different culture and mindset – getting to learn on the ground how decisions are made in Germany or Italy for example.

I did end up my career as Managing Director of the France Subsidiary and during this period I did voluntarily engage into the very first session of the CEC program, and I am now part of the team to deploy it more largely.

AFAM: you are developing a CEC project (Convention des Entreprises pour le Climat) for the French Alps region and the region of Lyon. Our readers can learn more about this project as I will give a link below. But please explain in a few words what is the goal of this project and what stage are you at right now? What is so unique about CEC?

Raphael:  CEC is an NGO organization, focused at accompany and coach business leaders towards the transition to come – we help them getting ready to design and then execute (!) the strategical road map 2030 for their organization – we start with climate issues, including planetary resources extinction, impact of bio-diversity, innovation, social and workforce talent changes, well you get it – it is a full company road map to get them well equipped.

The unique recipe stands in the design of the program – we put 200 leaders together and they work on their own business while learning as one team on the concepts and challenges. They grow their knowledge as a person, as a business team and as a full collective group.

AFAM: Arts et Metiers is one of the partners of the CEC. Could you please tell us what is its role in the project? Are there any other French engineering or business schools/ alumni associations partnering with CEC?  

Raphael: Indeed, Arts et Metiers has made the decision this year to partner with CEC and launch a specifically focus version of it – CEC INDUSTRIES.

This one will be nation-wide, gathering leaders of the industries ready to work together as individually of this road map for future.
We do expect A&M to bring the majority of candidates, while the session is public and open to all engineering school – we are teamed with the Delegation des Grandes Ecoles and we do expect a good resonance.

AFAM: What is your role in CEC project?

Raphael: I do act as a Project lead and sponsor for this CEC Industries program – I do indeed have multiple hats – I can witness of the experience having been through a similar one in person, I am now part of the CEC NGO team and organize various programs, and I am part of the Soce A&M bureau with role of “delegue aux formations” – my dream is coming true, Soce has been working on a new identity, published earlier this year – Leaders des Industries Responsables – and this is a very good connection to all of it.

AFAM: Any climate and nature positive startups/companies in the US or in France you are following or/and have been impressed by recently? Why?  

Raphael: Some industrial companies have gone through the program – I do think at Rossignol, sportswear’s and accessories manufacturers – they have to work on their transition as we all know that snow will no more exist at medium altitude over the future, so a real need to redesign their own business model, engaging with partners from region, government, suppliers and customers.

AFAM: you have been working in the US for several years and also studying at Stanford. How did your experience in the United States influence your career and life?    

Raphael: As mentioned earlier, a great experience for me and my family, living abroad, learning from different perspective – US experience was even more important for me as I could be part of the headquarters ambiance and better understand the big picture.

We did have fun with Christine, my wife and US is the country where Jules was born and got his USA citizenship!

AFAM: Any future plans you’d like to share with us?

Raphael: Deploying outside of France, starting with French common language first, Suisse and Belgium, but pretty soon whole Europe.

Personally, enjoying live with a lot of outdoor sports activities.

AFAM: Thank you for your time, Raphael, and have a wonderful day!  

Raphael:  Thanks for the opportunity

About CEC project: cec-impact.org

OTHER INTERVIEWS in "Green and Clean" series:

Interview with Julien Artur de la Villarmois (Cl 218)

Interview with Guénaël Prince (Cl 201)