Double National title for one of our Board members
When not in AFAM meetings or working with IBM clients or on a plane, Jean Pommier (An 183) will likely be outdoors, running for many miles at a time, a hobby, ultra marathon running, he calls his second job. This March, he managed to score two USA Trac & Field National titles in his age group, a week apart. First at the 100-mile Road Championship in Las Vegas, then the 50K Road National on Long Island in New York. With parents from Normandy, these achievements got covered in two pieces in Ouest France (100-mile, 50K). Jean has been selected for the mythical Spartathlon, a 245-kilometer foot race retracing Pheidippides journey between Athens and Sparta after the battle of Marathon, at the end of September. “After 188 ultra races, something new and a learning experience” says Jean about Spartathlon, “the longest I’ve run so far has been 215 km in 24 hours, but that was on a flat loop. This time I’ll have to get the help of some Greek gods to get me over Mount Parthenio! Time to review my mythology courses from middle school!”
Articles Ouest France
Photos: voir blog posts
Congratulations to Marc Amblard (Cl 84) for being awarded with SOCE bronze medal for community engagement and dedication!
The medal was presented by AFAM CEO Xavier Wartelle during March board members' informal gathering in one of the restaurants in Palo Alto.
Thank you, Marc, for all your excellent work as AFAM CEO and dedicated gadz community volunteer!
from left: AFAM board members Aurore Prevot, Yarith Phay, Jean Pommier, Marc Amblard, Eric Benhamou, Xavier Wartelle, Nicolas Horde and AFAM community manager - Albina Patou-Chebykina
As you all certainly know, AFAM is a non-profit association being able to help our student financially thanks to our donors.
Thanks to of our biggest donors - Louis Magne (An 130) - AFAM was able a few years ago to offer Shasta grants to our students and apprentice students pursuing internships in the United States.
In March AFAM had a pleasure to help five out of our current eleven interns in the United States.
5 students and apprentice students received in March Shasta grants from $1500 up to $4000.
We congratulate our students and wish them all the best in their future endeavors!
Here is what one of our Shasta recipients said:
"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."
International Week organized by Arts et Metiers Institute of Technology is taking place this week. There are several workshops and testimonials regarding international mobility, internships and professional experience abroad taking place online.
Our alumnus, Shasta committee member, Robert Stelly (Ch 197) participated in one of the workshops on March 27th: "Gadzarts: l'international comme tremplin vers le monde professionnel".
Albina Patou-Chebykina, AFAM community manager took part in "SFE à l'etranger - faites le grand saut! " workshop to talk about the Shasta program. It happened Tuesday, March 28th.
Pierre Heger (CL 218), Berkeley alumnus, working in Texas today, shared his experience of pursuing an internship in the United States. Besides Pierre and Albina, Foucault de Franclieu and Maël Silbande also talked about their internship experiences in Switzerland and Japan respectively.
More than 60 participants took part in this workshop.
Besides, Albina presented Shasta to Arts et Metiers apprentice students the same day.
To know more about AFAM programs, please visit our website:
Robert Stelly during the workshop ( and the program of the International Week)
Pierre, Albina, Foulcaut and Maël talking to students during the conference
Maël presenting his Japanese experience
As is customary every three years, we will be holding an election to our board.
Election key dates
Who can vote
The AFAM board and officers election vote is open to all AFAM donors who donated at least once in the past 3 years. If you have any questions, please reach out to Albina Patou-Chebykina, AFAM community manager.
Current AFAM officers
Current board directors (non executive)
Aurore Prevot
Eric Benhamou
JB Commans
Jean-Luc Nauleau
Louis Renaux
Thomas Ferré
Current ex-officio board directors
Arts et Metiers Relations Internationales - Audrey Stewart
SOCE West Coast Group - Nicolas Horde
If you have any questions, please contact
A word from our interim CFO Jean Pommier (An 83), AFAM longtime volunteer and friend:
"After having contributed to AFAM these past 10 years, both on the Board and as Chair of our Shasta program and committee, I look forward to serving as CFO, grateful for the outstanding work which Marc Amblard has done these past 5 years in this key role for our organization. In addition to all the hours our volunteers contribute to support our community, ensuring the proper management and allocation of funds is essential to the success of our AFAM mission. The CFO acts as the direct link between the generosity of our donors and the financial needs of the students and alumni we support through our Shasta, Sequoia and Yosemite programs and grants. To allow me to focus on such responsibilities, Nicolas Horde has accepted to take over the leadership of our Shasta initiative, with the support of our active members and mentors, Corentin Lazarus, Robert Stelly and Merwan Benhabib, and along the essential personalized assistance our Community Manager, Albina Patou-Chebykina, provides to each candidate.”
AFAM Board members Marc Amblard, Yarith Phay, Eric Benhamou, Xavier Wartelle and Jean Pommier along with AFAM community manager Albina Patou-Chebykina during March board meeting discussing AFAM elections