A PERSONALIZED CURRICULUM

The “Ingénieur Civil des Mines program” is a three-year academic program that is divided into 5 semesters of teaching and 3 internships of an accumulated duration of at least 32 weeks.

THE FIRST YEAR PROGRAM

The first year program is devoted to acquiring general scientific knowledge and the skills needed to use it. It is also devoted to acquiring knowledge in economics and social sciences, humanities and in languages and foreign cultures. It is also a year for discovering:

• engineering fields by meeting people in the industry and a series of lectures give by business executives;

• research through contracts with laboratories in connection with the school;

• our society through “mains à la pâte” projects (helping children discover science and technology using a hands-on approach) with primary schools, in and around Nancy;

• the economic world through visiting companies and a four-week internship.

SECOND AND THIRD YEAR PROGRAM

The second and third years make up a homogeneous ensemble from which engineering students can choose their own personalized curriculum.

They choose one of the majors in the department which includes a program for the specialization disciplines associated with the team project they will carry out. This specialization represents around 30% of the program in their second and third years.

They also choose their electives, which will be of a more in-depth or cross-disciplinary scientific and technological nature or which will be of an intercultural nature that completes and opens up the program to their specific fields of specialization.

Students can also choose an ARTEM workshop that, around a complex interdisciplinary and intercultural project, brings together various teachings for a cross-disciplinary field of competence. This workshop represents 15% of the program time in their second year.

Students complete their program with courses in management and humanities, and in languages and foreign cultures.

The third year of studies is carried out at the school or, when a personal and professional project is justified, in another school or a partner university in France or abroad. It is a year for deepening the knowledge acquired and orienting their studies toward the envisaged professional plan.

THE PROGRAMS

The academic programs are divided into semesters and organized in courses with 7 or 12 classes, according to the disciplines and the periods. These courses are grouped under 7 headings.

• General Science: to reinforce the conceptual and methodological scientific foundations. These courses are mainly found in first year.

• Management: the objective is for engineering students to acquire the indispensible skills needed for understanding the economic environment, the complexity of society and organizational issues. These courses are spread out over all three years and have courses that are part of the core curriculum for the first three semesters and a choice of electives that are divided into 6-7 themes for management oriented careers.

• Specialization: the objective is to allow engineering students to acquire a certain expertise in a field found in one of the major sectors of activity and to put into practice the scientific and methodological disciplines they have studied. Based on projects, these
courses are offered in the second and third years of the program.

• ARTEM labs: these are interdisciplinary by definition and are designed to familiarize engineering students with complex situations and human factors. They are based on learning through projects and begin in the second year of the program in partnership with
the other ARTEM-Nancy schools.

• Electives: the objective is to give a deeper understanding of a given theme, interdisciplinary methodological tools or scientific applications.

• Languages and foreign cultures: this answers to the school’s objective to give all students an advanced independent-user level in one language and an intermediate level in a second; it is necessary to obtain an external diploma in order for the program to be
officially recognized (exams from Cambridge University, Goethe Institute, University of Salamanca, etc.). Thus, the program at the Ecole des Mines of Nancy requires studying two modern languages, one of which is English. A third language is optional but highly
recommended. The languages courses are offered throughout the academic program, with 8 hours per week in the first year and, depending on the level obtained, 4 to 8 hours per week in the 2nd and 3rd years. The teaching team is composed of around 40 teachers of whom more than 50% teach their native tongue. Students are also given considerable means for distance education and an ensemble of audio or video recordings and magazines.

• Humanities: the objective is to transmit the major points of the intellectual traditions that make up the backdrop for contemporary debates. 4 major themes are taught:

• Science, Technology, Society: First the relationship between science and truth are examined, using the history of science and contemporary epistemology as a springboard. Then, we consider technology as a system so as to understand not only the history of technology, but also the evolution of industrial objects and products, as well as the relationships of science/technology/society.
• Culture and Civilization: This subject presents, beyond the diversity of cultures, what “the imaginary institution” is for all societies, what the symbols are that underlie and justify the social bond. We examine how the globalization of economic exchanges and communication networks have changed our perception of the world, and we try to put the Western models for knowledge into perspective with different models in order to better understand the geopolitical issues as well as, for example, the issues related to technology transfers between rich countries and poor countries.
• Art and Aesthetics: Besides the scientific and technological criteria that preside over the development of new products, it is important to establish the aesthetic criteria at the very outset as they guarantee that the products will be not only functional but also “beautiful” (the same for the economic criteria, which will guarantee the commercial viability of these products). The purpose here is to present the ways in which a thought is incorporated in the lines, the shapes, the colors, the sounds and the rhythms as well as to address the relationship of art with the unconscious, scientific knowledge, the collective representations of power and political choices.
• Philosophy and Law: This principally concerns giving the necessary elements for “navigating in thought” in order to understand the problems posed by our modern democracies, from the analysis of what is needed for the full exercise of citizenship to what “being responsible” means: creating a balance between what is acceptable and what is not, the relationship that is maintained between happiness and good sense, the relations with others, justice and imagination. The aim is to also give engineering students basic points of reference concerning the laws of different societies.

• Physical education and sport: these are an essential part of a balanced educational program. These classes begin in the first year and are organized by the “Service Inter-Universitaire des Activités Physique et Sportives” (SUAP), the university service for physical activity and sport.

First of all, the classes aim towards both the general and specific objectives that are characteristic of this discipline, contributing to the personal development of each student by helping them develop emotionally, cognitively and in their motor skills.

Secondly, they also contribute to helping the engineering student attain his new status: manager, creator, leader, consultant, developer, etc.

In other words, beyond working on sports techniques, it is about harmoniously investing oneself in developing an open outlook on the world in general and on the business world in particular, in the context where sport and physical activities affirm themselves as a fullfledged social, economic and technological environment.

In parallel with this program, students can get involved with a sports association; they have access to the services available at the SUAP.

THE DEPARTMENTS – SCIENCE CONCENTRATION

At the end of the first year, engineering students choose a scientific department in one of the following disciplines: Energy: production transformation: Industrial engineering and Applied mathematics: Geoengineering: Informatics: Materials: Processes, energy,
environment. The objective of concentrating in a major is to allow engineering students to acquire, with an educational department, in-depth expertise and to put methodological theory into practice.

These programs are offered as of the 2nd year and include 14 courses of 21 hours each (8 in 2nd year and 6 in the first semester of 3rd year, the second semester is devoted to the end of studies project, which is chosen in the specialization for the major of the department and carried out during an internship).

In the second year, a department project is carried out in a group over two semesters, which allows for putting the scientific and methodological theories into practice.

> Department of ENERGY & FLUID MECHANICS

Major: Energy & Fluid Mechanics

The objective of this major is to give engineering students a solid educational program in the fundamental theories concerning Energy: fluid mechanics, heat and thermodynamics. We also address the state of the art technologies in the field of energy. The program is completed with an introduction to a global approach to the energy situation, including a presentation of different vectors and sources of energy, renewable energies as well as trading and energy management.

> Department of Applied Mathematics and INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Major: Decision and Production Engineering

This major focuses on skills in the scientific management of production in a broad sense (manufacturing industry, supermarkets, transportation, banks, etc.) and decision-making engineering. These future engineers are recruited in industries, businesses and services.

Major: Mathematical Engineering

This major ensures that engineer-mathematicians are able to handle concrete problems, to contribute modeling them and to choose the most powerful numerical methods to deal with them. It offers two concentrations, one emphasizes financial mathematics, which requires stochastic modeling skills, and the other emphasizes scientific computation.

> Department of CIVIL AND MINING ENGINEERING

Major: Civil and Mining Engineering

Using a deliberately broad-based approach, and thus following a single path, the department offers a quite varied program which prepares students for different fields that involve civil engineering, mining and oil, as well as managing risks and the environment. This program aims, first of all, at developing the capacity to observe and to represent complex objects (cartography, geology, hydrology) and the capacity to model these objects (geotechnics, geostatistics, geophysics). The department also offers deeper investigations into different fields: s.l. civil engineering (tunnels, structures, etc.), natural hazards management, exploitation and utilization of the underground (hydrocarbons, mines, geothermal power), most notably.

> Department of computer SCIENCE AND IT

Major: Ambient Services and Robotics (ASR)

This major considers the processing of information as being part of a large and complex system and whose interactions with the real are multifaceted and critical. Safety and security are therefore the principal concepts of the course, along with modeling information exchanges and interactions, communication and mobility/ubiquity. Information is placed in a context where technology and software are integrated.

Major: Organization of information and processes

This second major is more concerned with the concept of information itself, its representation, its evolution, and the way in which it grows and adds value when embedded in business processes. The question here is no longer to consider isolated technological information systems, but rather to determine what organization and what representation will best suit business needs and uses.

> Department of MATERIALS

Among the three major classes of materials – metals and alloys, polymers and ceramics – we traditionally group “structural” materials, selected for their mechanical characteristics and their resistance, and “functional” materials which are used for non-mechanical
functions. After a core curriculum where these two groups of materials are studied with equal emphasis, two different, yet partially overlapping, majors are offered.

Major: Functional Materials

The objective of this major is to present the relationships that exist between how material is organized, principally on the atomic scale, and its functional properties, such as electrical or thermal conductivity or optical properties, and to present innovative materials and their applications: dielectric materials, magnetic materials, semiconductors, ionic conductors, and artificial structures (thin films with functionalized surfaces, superlattices, quantum wires, etc.). All these properties aer implemented in emerging applications, of high technology, sometimes miniaturized and currently in very strong development.

Major: Structural materials

The objective of this major is to understand the phenomena that make a material have a mechanical behavior that is unique to it alone and for which, besides the chemical composition, the microstructure plays an essential role. Optimizing the mechanical properties and the serviceability is achieved through mastering the processing that gives a product or semiproduct that has the targeted microstructure, from a liquid state, by thermomechanical transformations, by deposit or by chemical reaction. Because of their different physicochemical nature, crystallized materials (metallic alloys, ceramics, concrete), amorphous materials (glass and polymers) and composite materials are dealt with separately. All these materials are illustrated through industrial applications in the fields that are perpetually looking for increased performance, such as automobiles, aeronautics, civil engineering or nuclear.

> Department of ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND PROCESS ENGINEERING

Major: Energy and Environmental Engineering of Industrial Systems

The objective of this major is to give the basics for modeling industrial processes in which energy plays an important role. It is about answering the production needs of new products with a maximum of safety and minimizing the impact on the environment and energy needs.

THE ARTEM LABS

ARTEM-Nancy is the name of the Alliance of the Ecole des Mines of Nancy, ICN Business School and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Art of Nancy (ENSA).

It is in this context that the three schools have put in place, on their respective sites, the “ARTEM Lab”. The workshops are held every Friday over two academic semesters. Each school offers programs that are open to the students’ choosing during their second to last year at the school.

An engineer deals with what is real, and thus, with what is complex. That is his world. In order to understand and solve the problems he is confronted with, he needs an approach that goes beyond what is simply academic and deductive. An engineer’s world is also that of working in an international, multicultural team.

Therefore, the ARTEM-Nancy schools offer diverse workshops, some of which can include the participation of students from all three schools. These workshops contain two inseparable elements: a multidisciplinary program and managing complex projects. The academic program (90 hours of class or lectures, 3 hours per week) is put together, established to solve the complex problems encountered with the project.

The ARTEM Lab gives the opportunity to encounter different cultures, for example, that of the future business executive from ICN as well as the artist or designer from ENSA. The ARTEM Lab: learning through projects, “a project is carried out by a group of students” (4-6 students from the three schools).

There are three levels of assessment that are based on the results of the group’s work.

• The group project defines the issues of the problem (systematic analysis of the project). This is expressed through a preliminary report.

• One or more comparative methods for solving the problem are proposed. At this level, the assessment is based on evaluating the pertinence of the choice of methods and their efficiency. This is also expressed through a report.

• The group project creates the object itself, material or immaterial, which is the final result of the project. This is expressed with the final object. 

The collective work assessment is that of the group. There is a collective written and oral report. Similar to a professional assessment, the Lab’s assessment method does not oppose individual assessments, quite the contrary. Individual assessment can be administered to give recognition to the diversity of the students’ talents.

Thus, students at the Ecole des Mines of Nancy are offered an original academic program:

with a matrix organization, combining so-called “sectored” programs where the student is essentially committed to acquiring scientific and technological knowledge in order to pursue a professional career in a given sector of activity (informatics, energy production, finance, etc.) and cross-disciplinary programs through ARTEM workshops (where the student gives a preference to learning mental and physical methodologies through different fields of discipline and thus developing his own capacities in creating and managing complexities) and certain elective courses.

INTERNSHIPS AND PROJECTS

During their studies, engineering students are trained to work in teams on scientific and technological projects which are offered by the school (laboratories, services, etc.) and businesses.

Three major project categories: 

• 1st year projects are oriented towards a practical application of scientific knowledge to academic and social subjects;

• 2nd year projects, carried out in teams of 2 to 6 people depending on the scope of the subject, within the framework of programs that delve deeper into the subject and in the ARTEM workshops;

• 3rd year projects, last year of studies, deal with the chosen scientific major and rely strongly on laboratory skills for carrying them out.

The standard program of the Ecole des Mines of Nancy includes three compulsory internships, which are chosen by the engineering students, in France or abroad for a minimum of 9 months. The internships are as follows:

• a “worker” internship during 1st year (proposed by the school), in a production company in France or abroad.
Objective: discover a company from as a worker.
Duration: 4 weeks minimum, which can be completed during the summer with an optional internship, particularly to fulfill an international placement*.
Period: February-March and July-August.

• a “professional project internship” during 2nd year, in a company or an organization in France or, preferably, abroad before starting the 3rd year (internship to be found by the engineering student).
Objective: Integrating a project team, and acquiring know-how in organization, analysis, studies, design, consulting, auditing, or supervising.
Duration: 8 to 10 weeks depending on the constraints caused by certain external programs in 3rd year.
Period: June-September.

• an “end-of-studies” internship during the 3rd year (for those choosing a standard 3rd year), in France or abroad*, in a company or a laboratory for those who opt for a “learning through research program” (internship proposed by the school). The subject of
this internship has a strong synergy with concentration chosen by the student.
Objective: Fulfill a General Engineering assignment within a team where he will negotiate
and convince, train and inform, be an agent for change and be creative.
Duration: 20 weeks minimum.
Period: March-August.

* The international placement requires a minimum of 8 weeks outside of a French-speaking European country during the 3 year program.

The Ecole des Mines has established an industrial placement charter that conforms to the french law concerning equal opportunity by defining a reciprocal commitment on the part of 3 partners, which are: the trainee, the school and the company. This charter is validated for the work placements for the civil engineering students from the Ecole des Mines of Nancy.

As part of the flexibility offered at the end of the second year, students have the possibility to include a long internship (of 9 months to 1 year) within their program or at the end of it. As a complement to these internships, different activities contribute to students
accomplishing their individual or professional project:

> in 1st year

- One week of research and innovation: Students discover the laboratories connected with the school and, in parallel, take part in innovation games that help them discover the concept of creative projects in groups.

- Company visits: students are invited to visit major businesses in order to have a preliminary contact with the industrial environment.

- Semantics and stylistics: how to intelligently write up a report and give an oral defense of an internship based on themes related to the sociology of work.

- Exchange forums organized by DREE and student Associations (Forum, Student Bureau and Junior Entreprise): run by recently graduated students, active in the Alumni Association. They will talk about different assignments entrusted to engineers in a sector
of activity.

- Meetings with business partners of the school: In the form of seminars, 2 or 3 business executives present different lines of work available in their companies. Job interview simulations are also organized.

- Active guidance led by the school’s top administration. Each student receives help from an advisor to assist him in his choice of classes, projects and extracurricular activities.

Along with information gathered at the school during seminars and meetings with business executives, a student must be able to know himself well and to build an academic program that corresponds to his professional aspirations that he will be able to bring to fruition in the following years.

> in 2nd year

- Half-days are planned for presenting business culture. Business executives, often alumni of the school, present their personal experiences and inform students of the need to adapt well to business culture.

- Department week: visiting a company related to the different programs in the school’s departments.

- Sessions in written and oral communication: presentations, reports, public speaking.

- Seminar for sustainable development.

INDUSTRIAL PARTNERSHIPS

Mines Nancy has many relationships with businesses.

These relationships can take different forms, depending on the business:

> Active corporate partners: these are the major companies that have participated in the school’s activities for a long time. They are partners who have created bonds over the years through employing a large number of our students, directly participating in our
teaching programs, receiving our students as interns in different years and making them aware of the different engineering professions.

The relationships with these privileged partners are maintained and cultivated by the school’s administration. These include: EDF, Total, Arcelor, Renault, PSA, GdF, CEA-Framatome, Saint-Gobain, IBM, Société Générale, SNECMA, SNCF, ALCAN, Michelin, Exxon-Mobil, BNP Paribas, Lafarge, Air France, Faurécia, Véolia, among others.

> Associated corporate partners: these are also quite often large industrial groups, with strong ties to the school, but whose relationships do not cover all the domains of the previous companies. They participate in the school’s activities as well as its teaching
programs but only through large events such as the Est-Horizon forum or other activities involving our students’ projects.

The relationships with these businesses are maintained and cultivated by the school’s administration and the student bureau. There are quite a few companies involved and we can cite, for example, Danone, Rank Xerox, Carrefour, Banque de France, Screg, Unilog, Cora, Accenture, Dassault, Ratp, etc.

> Other corporate partners: these are about 300 other small, mid-sized or large businesses, with one local, regional, national or international operation that participates directly by receiving our students as interns and contributing to paying the training taxes,
and to the school’s activities.

This very strong industrial network, which constitutes our partners in training who are also active with our alumni association, is always ready to contribute to developing our strong image of engineers who are able to work in all sectors of activity.