Areas of expertise

The Industrial Engineering and Applied Mathematics department brings to life two major options (particularly in terms of student numbers) at the school: Mathematical Engineering, and Decision and Production Systems Engineering.

Its objective is to train engineers capable of designing models and analysing systems with a view to improving the productivity, logistics, costs, etc. of a company in any field of activity using sophisticated mathematical and computer-based decision-support tools. Another of the department’s tasks is to organise the teaching of the school’s common core in mathematics, operational research and statistics. Most of the young engineers from our department will go on to careers in banking, insurance, auditing and consulting companies or in the research and development centres of large industrial, commercial and service companies. Their work involves data science (including big data), financial product modelling, risk calculation, financial analysis, management control, production management, internal and external logistics, the selection of suppliers and human and material resources in general, quality, maintenance, decision support for system design and control, project management, scientific computation…

Educational team

The department has mathematics teachers and researchers including two professors: Antoine Henrot and Xavier Antoine; four lecturers: Denis Villemonais, Sandie Ferrigno, Ilaria Lucardesi and Rémi Peyre, as well as computer scientists specialising in decision support including one professor: Yannick Toussaint; four lecturers: Bernardetta Addis, Henri Amet, Wahiba Ramdane-Cherif and Frédéric Sur. It also receives ad hoc support from INRIA researchers as well as active members of Institut Elie Cartan and Loria, particularly for project supervision and elective courses.

Research basis for teaching

In research, members of the department are very active members of teams at Institut Elie Cartan (probability and statistics, partial differential equations) and Loria (automatic language and knowledge processing, algorithmics, computation, image and geometry, networks, systems and services). This direct link with research naturally feeds into the teaching and projects within the department. Note that the third year in Mathematical Engineering is shared with the IMOI (Mathematical Engineering and Computer Tools) Master’s at the University of Lorraine.

Pluses

The Industrial Engineering and Applied Mathematics department incorporates the Big Data for Sustainable Housing Chair funded by Saint-Gobain Recherche. Several second and third-year projects are proposed each year within this framework. Other industrial projects come from local partners (often SMEs) or startups, some of which are housed at Mines Nancy. Several alumni have received outstanding awards and distinctions, such as:

• Yannick Privat (Mathematical Engineering class of 2002): winner of the Grand Prize from the Chancellery of Lorraine 2009
• Nicolas Rougerie (Mathematical Engineering class 2004): Rosemont-Demassieux Prize from the Chancellery of the Universities of Paris in 2010, Young Scientist Prize from the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics in 2015

Geoscience and Civil Engineering is one of the longest-established departments at Mines Nancy. Its scope encompasses roles involving civil engineering, land use planning, resource exploitation, environmental management and risk management.

The department relies on educational methods based on case studies and projects. The teaching aims, first of all, to develop the ability to observe, represent and interpret complex objects or structures related to the ground and the subsoil: tunnels, bridges, buildings, mines, quarries, linear transport infrastructure, etc. It then aims to develop the ability to model them with the goal of specifying their dimensions or predicting their behaviour. Finally, it examines the issue of assessing and managing the risks posed to human activities by the environment, or to the environment by human activities.

The knowledge base is constructed from lessons in geology for engineers, geotechnics, digital modelling, geophysics, hydrogeology and structural mechanics. In the final year, the department offers in-depth studies related to risk management in civil engineering and mining engineering.

Educational team

The teaching team includes five teacher-researchers from various initial educational backgrounds (earth sciences, civil engineering, general engineering training). They work hard every day to adjust the training to the needs of companies and current societal developments, and strive to create a studious but friendly atmosphere with students.

As well as the Geoscience and Civil Engineering course, the teaching and research staff are involved in two university Master’s courses (Master’s degree in Civil Engineering and Risks and Master’s degree in Mining Engineering and Risks) and a specialist Master’s delivered in conjunction with Mines Paris and the École Nationale Supérieure de Geologie. They also conduct their own research, supervise PhD students and work with the French and international scientific community (research projects, seminars, learned societies, etc.).

Professions for which the course prepares students

The Geoscience and Civil Engineering pathway prepares students for all occupations related to groundworks and the subsoil from the viewpoint of land use planning (civil engineering, guided transport, buildings, urban planning, etc.), resource exploitation (mines, quarries, fossil fuels, water, geothermal energy, etc.) and risk management (natural hazards, environmental and social impact studies, etc.).
The careers opened up by the department cover the entire spectrum of employers: design firms, mining and primary processing industries, construction companies, network or project managers, governments, local authorities, public and private research organisations, etc.
The roles available can range from technical subjects such as the design of works, to project management subjects that may involve the implementation of highly multidisciplinary approaches (economics, environmental sciences, social sciences, etc.).

The Computer Science department at Mines Nancy provides theoretical and practical courses covering the very broad spectrum of current digital themes.

We are committed to teaching our students to learn for themselves and to adapt to the various developments in our field. Our objective is to train “T-shaped people” – engineers with a broad scientific culture and proven skills in many scientific fields (illustrated by the horizontal bar of the “T”). But these engineers must also be able to be extremely efficient in a specific area (corresponding to the vertical bar of the “T”).

The Computer Science department offers nine fundamental courses that are taken by all students (Software Engineering, Operating Systems, Networks, Database, Security, Foundation of Computing, …) as well as eight optional courses (Machine Learning, Advanced Security, Ambient Systems, Robotics, Semantics, …). This training is complemented by interdisciplinary courses as well as technical and scientific projects. The different choices that students can make allow them to build a personalised pathway and develop their own uniqueness.

The department prepares you to…

The department prepares its students for any profession related to digital technology. The scientific foundations and teaching methods allow students to access management, consulting and project management roles as well as roles involving technical expertise in areas such as security, data analysis, web development or embedded systems development.

Research

Mines Nancy’s computer science training is supported by the LORIA research laboratory attached to the CNRS and Inria, as well as the Masters degrees in the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lorraine. The teaching and research staff in the department conduct their research within LORIA teams that specialise in very different fields: algorithms, computation, image and geometry; formal methods; networks, systems and services; complex systems, artificial intelligence and robotics. This scientific diversity greatly enriches the department’s teaching by offering students varied but highly complementary knowledge at the forefront of developments in information technology. It also keeps them in constant contact with international scientific research by enabling them to carry out study projects, internships and even doctoral theses at LORIA.

The department in figures

• 4.7 km of PLA consumed by 3D printers
• 10 network games organised every year
• 13 technology projects completed each year
• 42 awards from the foundation
• 998 bentos consumed at Techlab
• 4,242 cat videos watched

Educational team

The Computer Science Department at Mines Nancy brings together teaching and research staff (three professors and seven lecturers) involved in the research teams at the LORIA laboratory (Alice, Simbiot, Mosel, Synalp, Neurosys, Kiwi) and conducting work in different, but complementary, areas of computing.

As well as the courses that are at the heart of our department, we lead the common core course in Algorithms and Programming, many elective and interdisciplinary courses and ARTEM workshops: Logic and Reasoning, Introduction to C/C++, Video Games, Humanoid Robotics, Augmented Humans… Finally, the project-based teaching approach enables students to understand the fundamental aspects of computing but also its applications by participating in the activities of a TechLab, a permanent place for exchanges between teachers and students.

Projects

• Drone building for the UAV challenge (Australia)
• Creating a web platform
• Production of video games in collaboration with ENSAD (National School of Art and Design) in Nancy, as part of Artem.
• Production of connected smart objects
• Artistic and interactive performance by humanoid robots
• Software architecture – joint departmental project involving 30 people

In the Materials Science and Engineering department, we are interested in materials at different scales: from atomic arrangement to macroscopic behavior. In particular, we study the relationships between microstructures and macroscopic properties.

Among the three main classes of materials – metals and alloys, polymers, ceramics – we group together the so-called structural materials, which are selected for their mechanical characteristics and service life, and the so-called functional materials, which perform non-mechanical functions. After a common core in which the two groups of materials are approached in a balanced way, we propose two differentiated pathways that are partially separate.

The aim is to give future engineers the general skills they will need for a career in any industry to develop, produce or market materials with functional properties in all classes of materials.

The department prepares you to…

The department prepares students for various roles involving materials. Material engineers are found in: research (basic or applied), development, design, production, marketing, recycling.

Sectors:

• Study/consulting/audit,
• Energy,
• Information technology,
• Finance/banking/insurance,
• Construction and public works,
• Audit/patent firms,
• Teaching/research,
• Transport,
• Chemicals,
• Metallurgy and metal processing,
• Plastics processing,
• Eco-industry,
• Environment and planning,
• Media,
• Design.

Roles: engineers design, model, test, assemble and optimise products made with materials. They also develop innovative materials: so-called “smart” components, taking economic and environmental criteria into account.

Opportunities: materials engineers work in R&D, production, design, etc. within multidisciplinary teams.

Educational team

• Sébastien Allain, Professor, Mechanical Properties of Metallic Materials
• Silvère Barrat, Professor, Surface Treatments
• Christophe Candolfi, Lecturer, Thermal and Electrical Properties of Materials
• Franck Cleymand, Lecturer, Biomaterials
• Abdesselam Dahoun, Professor, Physical and Mechanical Properties of Polymers and Composites
• Lucile Dezerald, Lecturer, Ab Initio Calculations for Metallic Materials
• Emilie Gaudry, Professor, Ab Initio Modelling – Complex Quasicrystals and Intermetallics
• Bertrand Lenoir, Professor, Thermal and Electrical Properties of Materials
• Alexandre Nominé, ATER,
• Jean-François Pierson, Professor, Surface Treatments
• Marc Ponçot, Lecturer, Physical and Mechanical Properties of Polymers and Composites

Research basis for teaching

All the teaching and research staff in the Materials Department carry out their research within the Institut Jean Lamour.

Projects

• Study of the microstructural evolution of PET during thermal ageing
• Characterisation of oxide deposits
• 3D printing of natural porous media for experimental studies
• Patent analysis of the Q&P metallurgical process
• Study of the thermal properties of materials
• Determination of surface segregation energies using an ab initio approach
• Germination and growth in steels
• Research pathway

Department of Economics, Organisation and Business

The Economics, Organisation and Business department is an interdisciplinary department that complements the scientific pathways with studies in the fields of economics and management. The goal is to help the student understand the global economic environment and the world of business and corporations. From this viewpoint, the department’s teaching aims to provide engineering students throughout their studies with the knowledge and methodological tools key to understanding a company’s economic and social environment and its competitive, strategic and organisational challenges through various courses such as economic policy, accounting, financial analysis, strategy, marketing, audit and consulting. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, the department’s instruction does not target any specific profession. Instead, it provides an indispensable managerial knowledge base for future engineers and enables certain students to develop more specific skills in areas such as corporate consulting.

Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures

Fluency in at least two languages and the discovery of foreign cultures are an essential component of an engineer’s training and are among the stated objectives of the education provided by Mines Nancy’s Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures. In this spirit, students are required to take an English course, which is compulsory for all, and either continue the study of another language learned in secondary education or start a new language. It is also possible to study a third optional language (from the first year or in the third year). The language courses emphasise the cultural dimension and are designed to gradually bring engineering students from the status of a learner through to real use of the language. This is why the language teaching is based on both lessons and self-directed learning under the guidance of a teacher/contact person. The Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures supports engineering students in their learning to enable them to become autonomous language users and acquire the skills they will need to pursue a career abroad or in a multinational company, or in general to adapt quickly to a multicultural setting. They will be able to pass on and receive information in order to move a project or collaboration forward in any context, to convey the essentials of a message to others clearly and accurately, and to measure the quality of their communication in order to refine their skills. The courses are delivered by a dynamic team of qualified and experienced teachers keen to adapt their teaching as closely as possible to the needs of the students. At the beginning of each year, the department organises intercultural meetings that are an opportunity for first-year students and newly arrived international students to talk freely. These meetings begin with a buffet to which everyone is invited to contribute, enabling attendees to sample different specialities, and continue with games and other activities (dances, introduction to calligraphy, …) organised in almost all the languages taught at the school. The department is the Grand Est examination centre for Cambridge University, the Goethe Institute and the University of Sienna. Approximately 25 examination sessions per year are organised in all languages, representing around 600 candidates.