Tutored Partner Project (P2T)

At Centrale Nantes, we are convinced of the value of active teaching methods, particularly project-based learning, for developing cross-disciplinary skills. In addition to developing these skills, the P2T (Tutored Partner Project) exposes engineering programme students to the complexities of the professional world as early as possible, by giving them an assignment in their first year with a partner from the local business world. By anchoring students in local activity in this way, we encourage them to consider their future role in society in a given area.

Teaching objective

To give first-year engineering programme students an insight into their future profession as engineers, by having them carry out a project entrusted to them by local associations, local authorities and companies.

From your needs to their project

Do you have a new topic in mind that you’d like to develop within your business, or an issue or idea you’d like to explore? Leave it to our engineering students. Centrale Nantes' Tutored Partner Projects can be a good springboard for developing your ideas!

The school invites associations, companies or local authorities to entrust a project to a group of first-year engineering students on one of their technical, organisational, economic or environmental issues, free of charge.

How the project works

The students will be divided into groups of 6. They will work independently for a minimum of fifty hours, from March to June, at least half a day a week.

The partner will appoint a contact (tutor) within their organisation to monitor the students and their project. The students will also be tutored by a teacher from the school. They will work in project mode and communicate regularly with the partner throughout the project. Finally, the students will also be able to benefit from project management support, help from the Communications department and so on.

The project team acts like an external engineering consultancy, working remotely and communicating through working meetings, telephone meetings and email exchanges.

At the end of the project, the group of students will report on their work to the partner in the form of a final presentation.

Subject areas

The P2T teaching team can help the partner to draft the subject and define the deliverable, depending on what the students can be asked to do.

The assignments that can be entrusted are diverse: state of the art, specifications, environmental and societal impact study, eco-design, sizing, feasibility, concept research, etc.

The fields covered may be varied, but they are all areas in which Centrale Nantes has expertise:

 

Automation and robotics

Product and industrial systems engineering

Mathematics, computer science and biology

Mechanics, materials and civil engineering

Fluid mechanics and energy

Ecological and social transition

Examples of past projects

The tutored partner project (P2T) – Nantes Métropole, Veolia and Articonnex share their experiences (video)

Video transcript

Original video in French
 

Armand du Tertre (Articonnex) and Jérôme Blancon (Veolia)
Reuse Challenge Project
 

[Armand du Tertre] We were very surprised by the quality of the prototypes that were submitted and the originality of the ideas. There were some very bold concepts.
 

[Screen]
Tutored partner projects: practical tasks assigned to engineering students.
 

[Student] We’ve been working with Nantes Métropole for a few months now on a project to design a workshop based on collective intelligence to understand Nantes’ climate plan.
 

Anne-Line Briand and Catherine Lafage (Nantes Métropole)
Nantes Climate Plan Workshop Project
 

[Catherine Lafage] We were amazed by their maturity, their dedication and their commitment; they’ve really been exemplary.
 

[Anne-Line Briand] Frankly, it’s been a very, very pleasant surprise to be able to build such a strong relationship and achieve this level of quality with a group of students. 
 

[Jérôme Blancon] We have our routines, our processes, our ways of working. Giving free rein to young people who don’t come in with our constraints and so on… It’s great because we see things we never imagined we’d be able to see.
 

[Catherine Lafage] We’re coming away with something tangible. 
 

[Jérôme Blancon] We have products that are in the pre-launch phase. We have prototypes that are almost ready to be brought to market as they are.
 

[Screen]
Do you have a project you’d like to entrust to our engineering students?
Contact Téo Saal – Head of Tutored Partner Projects

Projects and deliverables can take many different forms, depending on the challenge set and the partner’s objectives:

Prototype – Model – Design:

• Physical prototypes of a ‘dummy battery’ and a comparative table of solutions – Modixia start-up
• Design of a valve control demonstrator – MoldTecS
• Prototype of a product made from reused materials – Veolia Environnement and Articonnex
• Recovery and conversion of mechanical energy from a pedal-powered merry-go-round – Luciole et Grillon Association
• Scale model and results of experimental tests on low-tech refrigeration – Skravik (Cooperative Society of Collective Interest)

Study – Report – State of the art:

• Exploring the future development of Mauves-sur-Loire station and its surroundings by 2050 – AREP, a subsidiary of the SNCF Group
• Study report + comparative table of solutions for the thermal refurbishment of a glazed building – La cocotte solidaire
• Envisioning the future of sport in the face of climate change - Decathlon Group
• Study on low-tech refrigeration - Skravik
• Study of water disinfection solutions - Akéa Énergies.

Digital tools – Simulation – Coding:

• Urban evapotranspiration: literature review & mini-calculation model – SOLENEOS start-up
• Automated processing of site reports, actionable codes – SMAC
• Artificial intelligence solution for optimising quality control – MB Production
• Workshop – Educational tool:
• Collective intelligence workshop on the Nantes Climate Plan – Nantes Métropole
• Creation of an educational resource pack on climate disinformation – Les Autres Possibles magazine
• From research report to prototype, from IT development to educational workshop: each project is developed in collaboration with the partner to meet the identified need.

Schedule

In order to guide the students throughout their project, we recommend regular meetings between the group and the company. These meetings can be held remotely if required, but the following three meetings must be held face-to-face:
 
1st meeting: present the company and its activities, explain the deliverables and define the milestones with the students
Progress review: check the progress of the project in relation to the objectives/milestones, give feedback on the initial results, redirect the project on the basis of the results
Final review: final presentation of results, discussion on the next steps to be taken, feedback on the quality of the work produced.

In addition to the in-company deliverables, students will also be required to produce academic deliverables such as a scoping document, progress  reports and minutes as well as presentations.

Timeline

June - October

Proposals for topics from external partners and drafting of project descriptions in collaboration with the course supervisor.

January

Teams are formed and students are allocated subjects.

Image description

• Jan-Feb
  • School: launch
  • Partner: 1st meeting
• Mar: project scoping
• Mar-May: undertake the project
• Apr-May:
  • progress review
• May-Jun
  • Delivery
  • School: final presentation
  • Partner: final review

Do you want to work with future engineers from Centrale Nantes?
To propose a project, please fill in the form

Company feedback

Over the past 20 years, 400 organisations have placed their trust in the school. Here are a few examples: