French-style engineers   Becoming an engineer: The vocational crisis can be avoided Jean‑Luc Delpeuch Engineering’s vocational crisis is a cause of worry. Rehabilitating this profession’s image depends on collective projects, which Europe will be able to manage in the 21st century. The values advocated by the Old World are imbued with deep concern for sustainable development: regional planning, the conservation of our heritage, the quality of infrastructures… These joint values call for special types of projects and economic development. Engineering profiles must adapt to this demand. The example of engineering education at École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Metiers (in particular the Cluny Center), a place of educational experimentation and innovation, illustrates these trends.   The birth of generalist engineers: École des Mines in Paris Armand Hatchuel The history of the École des Mines in Paris can be used to recall the origins of “generalist engineers”. This idea was a fact long before being formulated as such. The seeds were already planted in 1847‑1849; thereafter, the concept took shape in stages. The 1849 turning point broke with the “monoprofessional model”; and in 1949 (with the invention and multiplication of options that “do not imperatively determine the future placement of the person choosing the options”), a universal model of the generalist engineer was clearly defined that reached maturity thanks to a 1966 reform, without which research would probably not have grown as it has. This generalist, universal model must be reviewed as a function of the data and problems arising out of scientific and social transitions during a given period.   ParisTech and the training of “French-style” engineers Cyrille van Effenterre Grouped in an association called ParisTech, the major engineering schools in Paris have decided to form a federation for improving the visibility and assessment of their diplomas at the international level. How to adapt both this structure, which generates a new policy of quality around the ParisTech label, and a genuine delegation of responsibility by the schools with each school’s traditional image and a “culture” based on differentiation and specificity? What conduct to adopt for making changes given that this can be neither a “top‑down” process, nor a merger of a private sort, nor an institutional mechanics of an administrative sort? How to impel changes in higher education in science and technology, given the indispensable dimension of research, without reconsidering the linkage to big research organizations and reinforcing partnerships with nearby universities?   The Group of Mining Schools at the international level Alain Dorison and Marc Caffet Given increasing transnational competition in higher education, French mining schools have set the ambitious priority of “internationalizing” their education. Thought on this topic has led to a group approach for overhauling educational methods and developing new “tools”, including agreements on “dual diplomas”. Calling for major, human as well as financial, investments such an approach supposes that research associates and professors will make more efforts to adapt. Sharing workloads by “mutualizing” actions is now inevitable; it reaches beyond the Group of Mining Schools (GEM) since collaboration with ParisTech is under way.   École Polytechnique undergoing deep changes in response to the challenges of the 21st century Yannick d'Escatha Given its assignment in higher education, research and the circulation of scientific knowledge, École Polytechnique now has to compel recognition at the international level. Essential to its growth are the development of its campus and of programs at the master’s and doctoral levels as a complement to its engineering program. By broadening the base of cooperation, partnerships with nearby organizations and within ParisTech will make it possible to increase and improve existing ties within academia at the international level and in France.   A parable of talents and sweeping in the corners : Training mining engineers Interview with Marie‑Solange Tissier The engineering students in the France’s corps des Mines, most of whom have graduated at the top of their class, are champions of the exact and deductive sciences. Their training is, therefore, to be turned mainly toward knowhow and making known instead of toward knowledge as such. In a world where firms tend to favor specialization, does the training of generalist “French-style” engineers not risk coming to a dead end? Experience has shown that this sort of education is necessary and appreciated for managing big projects and overseeing complex technical subjects, but it can involve a limited number of engineers at best.   The Hubert Curien School, a prestigious institution for learning how to manage industrial risks Jean‑Michel Giardina Professionals in safety and security now face situations combining various aspects (technical, human, organizational, financial) and disciplines (company strategies, production, performance, human resource management). In this trying, constantly evolving context, the Hubert Curien School, founded more than sixteen years ago, has developed training programs that take into account feedback from experience and managerial strategies as well as expertise and the system of management in safety and security. It plays an active part in the movement for re-evaluating learning processes, and it has concentrated on firms.     New challenges   Industrial demand: What training and what nationality? François Soulmagnon In 2005, PSA Peugeot Citron started overhauling human resources so as to place skills and qualifications at the center of decisions about recruitment, occupational mobility and training. This approach exemplifies a major trend in firms of attributing more importance to technical qualifications than to managerial values for most white-collar positions. This does not signal the end of generalist managers, but the latter must prove themselves on the job. This leads us to inquire into the conception of careers and the actual positions open to students from postsecondary schools and universities. The search for international profiles based on French training programs ultimately concerns a small number of people. It is often more worthwhile to recruit white collars locally, even if this means completing their education on the job.

Building the Millau Viaduct: Technical challenges, human issues Marc Buonomo The A75 running from Paris to Spain becomes the highest superhighway in France as it runs onto the Millau Viaduct, a bridge spanning the deep, wide Tarn valley. This technical achievement has six major sections (342 meters long each) suspended to seven towers. It represents a huge advance in the design of cable-stayed bridges. The viaduct’s well-known silhouette has become a tourist attraction for the town of Millau. The public has understood that this outstanding construction might represent the most awesome engineering feat of modern times.   An engineer’s itinerary: Between dreams as a student and the facts of industry Christian Père The virtual reconstruction of the major church in the Cluny Abbey, of which barely 8% still exists, was the starting point for a transfer of technology and research in simulation and virtual reality at the Cluny Center of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Metiers. Thanks to this experience, the author wanted to become a creative engineer and researcher — a twofold qualification best suited to the needs of industry caught up in a competitive race. Endowed with technical training in the field and thus capable of understanding the context of firms, engineer-researchers should also acquire the basic, elementary rules of the scientific method.   Which engineers for tomorrow’s information‑ and knowledge-based society? Jean‑Claude Jeanneret An engineer is, first of all, a white collar with a background in management. This profession also calls for technical qualifications and, above all, for an approach to problems so that value is generated in a multidisciplinary environment. It will increasingly require new “postures” having to do more with changes in work and society than with technological trends. Finally, engineers of this sort must be citizens. GET training programs try to develop all these qualities in the education provided for tomorrow’s engineers. Such an engineer will compel recognition as a strategist and actor in a society based on information and knowledge, where there will be increasing competition in research and higher education.   Which engineers for tomorrow? The specifications Jean‑Michel Yolin As an “officer in economic warfare” in charge of a regiment, French engineers had the responsibility of overseeing production in their departments and defending the territory. In a structure mirroring the royal court, they had to choose the right “clan”, since loyalty brought more rewards than competence. Globalization and network operations have radically altered the profile of the efficient engineer: this “intrapreneur” must now know how to work well with colleagues, partners, clients or suppliers from different backgrounds. Questions thus arise about how to adjust training programs so that tomorrow’s engineers will be more efficient in a new worldwide economic system and, recognized as such, entrusted with the responsibilities they deserve.   Training world elites and French engineering schools Bernard Bobe The French system of higher education and research is incomprehensible at the international level. Will France still be able to maintain its place in the world if most of its major engineering schools are missing in the training of global elites? What issues must these schools address to cope with globalization in the training of elites?   International issues in the training of engineers: The EC’s point of view Ján Figel The fundamental problem facing the European Union in matters related to innovation is its inability to exploit and fully share the results of R&D and to convert them into economic and societal values. For this reason, it is necessary that institutions of higher education set strategic priorities based on three major objectives: the integration of elements in the triangle of knowledge (education, research, innovation), excellence and flexibility. During the period from 2007 to 2013, the European Commission will continue appropriating funds for innovation through the seventh Framework Program for Research and Technological Development as well programs for life-long learning and for competitiveness and employment.     Miscellany   Expertise and codes of conduct: Practices at INERIS Christian Tauziède More and more firms are making publicly known their codes of social conduct in relation to major preoccupations: globalization, social questions, protection of the environment, sustainable development… Most firms thus intend to improve their image and, thereby, their competitive edge. A code of conduct can be a legal shield but, too, a legal risk — in particular if it is drawn up without due thought. INERIS, the National Institute of Industrial Environment and Risks, is especially concerned with problems of deontology, since its status and mission lead it to formulate expert advice to public authorities and industrialists. By fostering conflicts of interest, this situation reinforces the need to formalize strict principles of conduct.