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The 2023 year was a very successful year for the Shasta program. Currently there are fifteen Arts et Metiers interns in the United States, including students, apprentice students and recent alumni pursuing VIE. Eight of the students who are currently pursuing internships in the USA have been helped by Shasta mentors and six received Shasta grants. Some of the students could take benefit of the gadz'arts network and find internship opportunities.
We are very proud of our students and would like to wish all of them very successful internships and all the luck in their future endeavors!
Here are some of the testimonials we would like to share with you:
Testimonial #1:
"My goal was to find an internship in the United States. I have always wanted to visit the country and many of my acquaintances were moving to north America to pursue double degrees or work. An international experience was mandatory for my master’s degree that seemed like the right opportunity to do it. I was told finding an internship in the US was very difficult and consequently a very rewarding experience. I got in touch with the American Friends of Arts et Métiers association, which aims at promoting the school and students in the USA. And I found the internship offer on the website...AFAM community manager Albina Patou-Chebykina has connected me to a handful of alumni that could help me with my career plan. From August 2022 to January 2023, I completed my internship at OndaVia Inc, in California. The experience went so well that I extended my stay for 6 additional months"
Testimonial #2:
"AFAM helped me find my internship. We built my project through calls and mails, and I finally found a company near Detroit. Albina and my mentor were very reactive even on the weekend. I recommended this program to the apprentice director of my school, and I hope many students will follow this program. In a few words, this was a very good experience and I enjoyed it a lot! "
Testimonial #3:
"I was able to benefit from the support of AFAM as part of my search for an end-of-study internship at Arts et Métiers. I have always dreamed of doing an internship in a country like the United States and this dream has come true thanks to the help received from AFAM. I am very satisfied with the support received by AFAM, Albina has always been there to inform me, answer my questions, send me offers, give me contacts or even share my CV. My mentor has also always been there to advise me, encourage me and give me feedback on his experiences from the US. I therefore take this opportunity to thank them once again."
Testimonial #4:
"I had an incredibly enriching experience with the AFAM Shasta mentorship program. With the help of my mentee, I not only succeeded in finding a fitting professional project but also acquired the skills necessary to create persuasive and cohesive applications. We dedicated several months to fine-tuning my resume, enhancing my project portfolio, and preparing for interviews. As a result, I achieved my goal of finding an internship in the US and taking my first step into the professional world in the best possible way. I highly recommend this program to any Arts et Metiers student looking for a first professional experience in the US !"
Testimonial #5:
"My mentor, Robert Stelly, has been crucial in helping me secure an internship in the US. His structured approach, regular meetings, and invaluable guidance on my resume, cover letter, and company targeting have been instrumental in my search. Additionally, his assistance with procedures and insightful tips for preparing my stay have given me confidence. I am immensely grateful for Robert's dedication, expertise, and continuous support, which have shaped my journey and will greatly contribute to my future success. I would like to express my gratitude for his invaluable support."
We would like to invite our students to check out our Shasta program and contact us to join it! If you are thinking about pursuing an internship in the United States in summer or fall 2024, it is the time to contact us!
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Our next interviewee is Guénaël Prince ( Cl 201), co-founder and CEO of Waga Energy Inc (US affiliate of Waga Energy SA).
AFAM: Hello Guénaël and thank you for agreeing to answer my questions. Please tell us more about your company and your job.
Guénaël: Waga Energy is an innovative Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) producer specializing in landfill gas upgrading, with a global presence and a proprietary technology.
We have developed a breakthrough technology the Wagabox, to recover landfill gas and turn it into RNG. Our projects have a double impact to help fight climate change: they capture landfills gas — a major source of greenhouse gas emissions — and produce a renewable substitute for fossil-based natural gas.
Since we created Waga Energy with my 2 associates Mathieu Lefebvre and Nicolas Paget in 2015, we have successfully developed, built and we now operate 15 Wagabox in France, Spain, Canada and USA, with many more projects being in execution.
Waga Energy is now expanding in Europe, and in North America, in order to accelerate the deployment of our solution. Global warming is here, we can every day measure or feel its impact; so we have no choice but to accelerate the development of renewable energies. And Waga is part of the answer.
After having held the position of CTO, being in charge of developing the Wagabox technology, I am now in charge of the US affiliate: I hire the people and form a committed and motivated team that will move forward our project here in the US.
AFAM: Is working in the renewable energy sector your true passion or is it more about opportunities that you wanted to take advantage of?
Guénaël: My motivation in working in the renewable energy sector was double: first I am concerned, like more and more people in the world, about the impact human activities have on the environment, and about the acceleration of the global warming. I am a father of 4 kids, I feel deeply concerned about their future, and I want to do something at my level. And then, my second motivation was to be able to put my technical knowledge at the service of a good mission. As an engineer, we can develop solutions to partially solve problems we’ve created in the past. So I can say it is a true passion!
AFAM: what do you enjoy the most about your job?
Guénaël: Working with people! Waga Energy is a real adventure, with many challenges in very different areas. What I love the most is being able to work with multiple different people, with different backgrounds (technical, legal, commercial, financial…) and cultures. Waga Energy is a human project; it is a demanding challenge, however by having our employees embracing our culture and value, we can succeed.
AFAM: Any renewable energy startups/companies in the US or in France you are following or/and have been impressed by recently? Why?
Guénaël: I am very impressed by the speed at which the electrification of usage is happening: it creates a lot of opportunities for small companies to position themselves, as big corporations will be slower to move. However, displacing the enormous quantity of fossil fuels consumed will require a lot of renewable energy; and the answer will come therefore in diversifying our renewable energy sources (biogas for example, in addition to solar and wind), and being soberer. And to help us in this sobriety pathway, it is great to see companies developing micro-mobility, last-kilometer delivery by cargo bikes, more efficient and lighter cars, ...
AFAM: How did being a gadz’art help you in your environmental career and in particular in your American journey?
Guénaël: I was lucky to have been able to take one sabbatical year during my scholarship at A&M school, with two friends, that opened my eyes about the world surrounding us. It was a real adventure, and I experienced that with a high motivation and sound foundations, you could do great projects! It helped me not be afraid to undertake new projects, and to see the power of being an association in an entrepreneurial project. Two things that were helpful in funding Waga Energy!
AFAM: every year we have several students looking for internships in the energy sector in the US. Some of them are in our Shasta internship program. What would you suggest to these students?
Guénaël: Happy to receive resumes!
AFAM: Any future plans concerning your professional career you’d like to share with us?
Guénaël: Waga Energy is only at the beginning of its story; we want to scale up the company to be in a position to address more markets. So I am fully focused in delivering our growth plan.
AFAM: Thank you, Guénaël
Please read other interviews in "Green and Clean” series
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AFAM CEO Xavier Wartelle (Li 82) while in Paris, met students and alumni at la SOCE. The event took place on June 15th. Cyril Poinsot (Cl 93) and Valérie Prulhière (Li 87), VP International, organized this conference. Xavier Wartelle talked about AFAM, its programs and his own American journey as well as about his current job as co-founder and CEO of Avatar Medical.
Participants were interested in different ways of coming and working in the USA and asked some questions about it. Besides, the audience asked the speaker about his entrepreneurship experience and whether it is a good way to start working for a big company before exploring entrepreneurship options.
AFAM would like to continue this tradition of having different meetings throughout the year between AFAM representatives and Arts et Metiers students/alumni on different campuses.
Next event with an Arts et Metiers alumnus, AFAM board member, Sequoia committee member and Atlanta gadz'arts representative Valentin Fehr (Cl 212) will take place on Cluny campus, on September 4th.
If you are on Cluny campus at the beginning of September, please stop by to say hello to Valentin and to learn more about our new Sequoia program.
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French Alumni SoCal pre-summer networking event took place on June 5th in Los Angeles. The event was organized by French Alumni SoCal group.
Julie Duhaut-Bedos, Consul General of France in Los Angeles welcomed guests in the Résidence de France (813 North Camden Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90210).
The event was dedicated to Innovation. Among the guests there were representatives and alumni of X, Mines, Telecom, HEC, Essec, Escp, EDHEC, EM Lyon, Sciences Po, Sorbonne.
There were also a few Arts et Metiers alumni present at the event.
Julie Duhaut-Bedos, Consul General of France in Los Angeles
French alumni at the event
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AFAM:
Hello, Louis, and thank you for agreeing to answer my questions. You graduated from both Arts et Métiers and UC Berkeley (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Since 2019 you have been working in the healthcare industry as Machine Learning Engineer: first at VideaHealth, an AI platform for dentists and today at Butterfly Network, an ultrasound company. Please tell us a few words about your mission with these companies and whether working in the healthcare industry was a coincidence or your choice.
Louis:
Hello! Thank you for having me. Working in the healthcare industry was definitely a deliberate choice for me. I've always been interested in the intersection of technology and healthcare, and I wanted to work at the crossroad of AI research and AI products.
During my time at VideaHealth, my mission was to develop and deploy machine learning algorithms to automate the analysis of dental X-rays and assist dentists in their diagnosis. The goal was to improve the accuracy and efficiency of dental diagnoses, ultimately leading to better patient care. The main project I worked on was developing an algorithm to detect cavities on X-rays and get that cleared by the FDA. Being able to work on solving such a problem once and then being able to deploy it to thousands of dentists to help the diagnosis of millions of patients is truly what is amazing about working in ML.
Butterfly Network has developed a handheld ultrasound device called the Butterfly iQ. My mission here is to develop algorithms to run on top of the imaging capabilities of the Butterfly iQ. For instance, displaying in real-time the quality of the ultrasound image or labeling anatomical features.
AFAM:
How do you think working in the healthcare industry is different from working in other companies?
Louis:
The main difference is that the algorithms I develop can bring a lot of benefits to patients as long as they are carefully built. That is why the FDA makes sure all of those algorithms are fair. This has direct implications on the code I write since there are important requirements in place that are meant to safeguard against mistakes.
Another key aspect is the cross-functionality of the work. As a Machine Learning Engineer, I work with people in the Software, Product, Clinical, and Regulatory teams. As such, being able to understand and work with them is key. In this regard, I believe the French Grandes Ecoles system and Arts & Métiers definitely helped in building a broad set of skills.
AFAM:
Boston in the US is considered to be one of the centers of biomedical engineering, research, and innovation. Do you take advantage of being in Boston to advance your career in the biomedical sector?
Louis:
Absolutely, a great example of that would be the MIT Healthcare hackathon that is happening every year and that I got the chance to win last year. Boston also has so many hospitals that it makes it very simple to be in touch with the latest research.
AFAM:
Any biomedical startups/companies in the US or in France you are following or/and have been impressed by recently? Why?
Louis:
There are quite a few! On top of my mind, I would mention Digital Diagnostics, a company that works in the ophthalmology space, which is one of the rare companies that got an FDA clearance for an AI algorithm that can be used completely autonomously, which allows it to diagnose patients in areas where ophthalmologists are not available.
There is also Medivis, a company working on imaging for surgeries, and we should see significant breakthroughs from them soon!
In France, Cardiologs is doing an amazing job in the ECG space and while being a French company already has an FDA clearance!
AFAM: in our Shasta program, we often help students interested in the healthcare industry and also those interested in Machine Learning. What would you advise these students who are willing to find an internship in the US?
Louis:
In terms of key skills to master in order to get hired in such positions I would mention coding and data skills. It’s necessary to be great at ML algorithms but without solid skills in Python and leveraging the pandas library it is very difficult to work efficiently.
AFAM:
Any future plans concerning your professional career you’d like to share with us?
Louis:
The coming years will definitely be quite challenging based on projects I cannot disclose yet but I am hoping I’ll deliver amazing news in a year!
AFAM:
Thank you for your time, Louis, and have a wonderful day!
Other interviews in our "Medi, Vidi, Vici" interview series:
Interview with Alexandre Becache (Bo 219)
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