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September 2022 was announced as a Shasta Month. In November AFAM community manager will be visiting Paris, Lille et Chalôns-en-Champagne campus to talk to students about our different programs - Shasta, Yosemite and Sequoia ( please see the program of AFAM community manager visit in our November calendar).
Why joining Shasta might be so important for a student? Our mentors are well-placed to know it.
Jean-Christophe (Me 213), Shasta mentor:
“Shasta Mentorship is designed to help students in every way possible as they search for US internships. It provides cultural and administrative guidance, as well as the opportunity for the mentor to share his network with the mentee.
When I was a Shasta mentor I was fortunate to meet very motivated students that were willing to work hard in their endeavor. The job market is very dynamic and standing out takes perseverance. It was wonderful to see students who wanted to take on the world, and to be able to provide them with the necessary help.
Being a Shasta mentor means helping different students in different situations. Helping to prepare a clear battle plan the real value added, as for most student this is usually their first job search. It's incredibly rewarding when a student sends an email on his first day at work!
I joined a Shasta program as a mentor because I had benefited at from being exposed at an early age to American culture, and thought it necessary to pass on what could help my fellow students.
Speaking about Shasta program I can say that it is held by the incredible devotion of the program members and that students should take full advantage of this wonderful group!”
Jean ( An 83), Shasta mentor and Shasta committee member:
"Mentorship is a wonderful relationship in which both mentor and mentee freely engage in mutual growth, outside of traditional intricacies of reporting structures. A must to succeed in all areas of our lives"
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On September 22nd, Arts et Metiers second and third year students met online with AFAM members of Shasta and Sequoia committees and AFAM community manager.
Our volunteers Jean Pommier (An 183), Nicolas Horde (Ai 214), Corentin Lazarus (Me2 09) and Valentin Fehr (Cl 212) as well as AFAM community manager Albina Patou-Chebykina could share some information about AFAM activities and programs and answer students' questions.
49 students could participate in this online meeting.
AFAM is encouraging Arts et Metiers students to join one of the three existing programs:
1) Shasta program for those who want to find an internship in the US;
2) Yosemite program for gadz'arts entrepreneurs;
3) Sequoia program for those who are willing to study in the US.
Albina will be traveling on Paris, Châlons et Lille campuses the week of 14th November and will be happy to talk to students about all the help and support they can get from American Friends of Arts et Metiers.
For all information and to join any of AFAM's programs, please contact AFAM community manager directly.
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French American Chambers of Commerce (FACC) all over the United States are well known by its activities of promoting mutual understanding of economic, commercial and financial relations between France and the United States.
As a non profit organization with the mission of supporting French A&M alumni and students in the US, AFAM closely follows FACC activities, participates in its events and encourages our community to take advantage of events and services offered by different FACC all over the United States.
On September 7th AFAM community Manager Albina Patou-Chebykina participated in an online event "SF meets Chicago" where two Chambers presented their activities.
Albina introduced AFAM and its programs to the participants of the online events. As FACC has its chapters in different regions of the United States, AFAM also has its groups and representations in the US: West Coast, East Coast and Central groups, as well as city representations of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Southern California.
To know more about AFAM/la SOCE regional groups, please visit:
https://americanfriendsam.org/about-us/regional-groups.html
FRENCH AMERICAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE is an important source of information. There are plenty of interesting events happening at every FACC chapter every month. Do not miss your local FACC events.
The one AFAM wants to invite you is a webinar on VIE program which will take place on September 20th:
https://americanfriendsam.org/calendar/20-partner-events/619-vie.html
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On September 6th, 2022 Gadz US energy networking online event took place. The event was organized by Patrice Brossard (Bo195) and featured two speakers:
• Olivier Clerc (Ai 205) (Bloom Energy company)
• Robert Stelly (Ch 197) (e-commerce platform named BeHub-e created by Vallourec)
Thank you to all the participants and speakers for a wonderful event!
Next event is planned at the end of 2022.
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Climate change is happening. We decided to launch a “Green and Clean” interview series to ask our alumni working in environmental careers how their companies and their work can lead us toward a greener future.
AFAM: Hello Julien. You are a R&D engineer at a French startup named Airthium. Please tell us more about your company and your job.
Julien: Hello and thank you for your interest. Heat pumps are a great technology for affordable and low carbon heat production, but existing solutions are limited to 200°C (400F). Airthium is developing a ultra-high temperature heat pump that will reach 550°C (1000F). This improvement will enable us to decarbonize new industrial processes, such as drying or steam generation, for various industries, such as paper, cement, chemicals, glass, mining, food and some heat networks.
My job at Airthium is to build a working prototype of a modified Stirling engine, capable of pumping heat at these temperatures. Another goal is to master a new process named Fast Near-Isothermal Compression. This would enable record-high efficiencies, and thus more energy savings.
AFAM: how did you break into this industry? Was it just a coincidence or a logical path in your career?
Julien: During my studies at Arts et Métiers, I led a team of 15 students that worked on a home hydrogen refueling station for cars. I started a company to study its commercial potential, but found that despite a record low price for a hydrogen station, it was not competitive enough against batteries.
When I was looking for an internship at the end of my degree, I had the opportunity to talk with Airthium executives about hydrogen compressors, which were a key technology in their previous research as well. By the end of the meeting, I had an internship at Airthium
AFAM: what do you enjoy the most about your job?
Julien: While trying to fight climate change at a large scale is of course satisfying, I especially enjoy following a technical project through all steps, from conception and manufacturing to assembly and testing.
AFAM: what is the most challenging thing about your work?
Julien: An experienced welder who worked on a part I designed at Airthium, told me that it was his most stressful job since he welded parts in the space industry. The reason for such difficulty is that I have to monitor many additional physical parameters during the R&D phase. There are also many constraints on the sensors we can use, such as operating temperature and pressure, with limited available space.
AFAM: How did Arts et Métiers prepare you for your current work? How does being a Gadz’Arts help you in your everyday tasks at work?
Julien: Doing R&D on a Multiphysics systems requires a deep understanding of various scientific fields, while mastering a wide set of skills. Arts et Métiers gave me both, plus the capacity to fill in any gaps by looking into literature. The Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation course also gave me a taste of the fast-changing startup world.
While my two years of classes préparatoires gave me a solid scientific background, I would not have been able to manufacture a first prototype without the classes and projects I had at Arts et Métiers.
Finally, being a Gadz’Arts is helpful for introductions when I need extensive data from a company on their industrial process, which helps Airthium to evaluate its target market, and find potential customers. The Gadz’arts network is wonderful for helping each other and sharing information, and I am grateful to be a part of it.
AFAM: thank you Julien for your time
Photo: Airthium team (courtesy of Julien)
About Airthium
Airthium is a startup company headquartered in the US and operating in France with 12 employees, among which 6 PhDs. We are backed by Y Combinator (prestigious US startup accelerator), Accel'air (Air Liquide's accelerator, where we have our current lab) and personalities like Philippe Kavafyan (CEO Aker Wind) and Jérome Pécresse (CEO GE Renewable Energy).
Our team develops a very high-temperature industrial heat pump (up to 550°C) able to tackle 3% of global CO2 emissions (1 Gt of CO2). There is currently no green solution to economically decarbonize industrial heat production between 200 and 550°C.
We are launching a 2nd crowdfunding round of $5 million to accelerate the development of our technology, notably by moving to an industrial warehouse in September and supporting the current build of our 1 kW prototype.
Climate is changing fast, but there is still a chance to act !
You can invest in Airthium at https://wefunder.com/airthium and help us decarbonize our planet.
If you wish to know more, do not hesitate to make an appointment with us via our calendar https://calendly.com/airthium
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