[Beautiful story] A chair to train engineering students in the challenges of Industry 4.0

For several years now, the industrial sector has been undergoing a process of change, gradually leading it towards Industry 4.0, or the industry of the future. To maintain their competitiveness and meet new market challenges, companies are seeking to integrate new technologies into their activities: automated solutions, artificial intelligence, data science, etc., with the aim of optimizing production chains, logistics, procurement, quality control and maintenance.

" For example, some players are already using industrial vision systems to improve end-of-production checks," notes Hubert Konik, director of development, innovation and work-study programs at Télécom Saint-Étienne. " Artificial intelligence provides additional expertise compared to the human eye, and is also capable of detecting errors in degraded conditions, particularly in terms of lighting. And this is just one of the many revolutions promised by recent technological advances. Transformations that involve a wide variety of skills, from IT and electronics to robotics and networks.

A teaching chair for students

It was against this backdrop that the Télécom Saint-Étienne engineering school and SICK, a world leader in sensor-based solutions for industrial applications, joined forces. " SICK is one of Télécom Saint-Étienne's historic and major partners," notes Christophe Gravier, the school's director. " And that's because we share a common DNA, focused on the entire digital chain, from data capture to processing. Télécom Saint-Étienne trains engineers with expertise in a wide range of fields: IT, telecoms, electronics, imaging, networks, photonics... all of which are at the heart of the company's business. As a result, the company often calls on students or graduates from the school.

These similarities prompted the two partners to take their relationship to the next level, with the signing of an agreement at the Global Industrie 2023 trade show. This agreement marked the creation of an "Innovation Chair", entitled "3D Acquisition and AI", designed to develop the expertise of engineering students in these two key industrial challenges.

And the choice of these themes is not only explained by their respective importance. " Data acquisition and artificial intelligence are in a permanent relationship of mutual influence," notes the director of Télécom Saint-Étienne. " Sensors are of course essential for providing data to AI algorithms. But they can also be used to minimize the collection device, in order to make the system less expensive or more ecological. " Like Industry 4.0, the Chair is therefore based on these two pillars, which can optimize each other.

Cultivating the link between academic knowledge and industrial applications

The initiative is fully in line with the missions of Carnot TSN, of which training is one of the pillars. And for Télécom Saint-Étienne, the Innovation Chair represents an ideal way of establishing a close link between the teaching offered at the school and the world of industry. " The Chair acts as a link between the disciplines studied in class and professional situations," explains Christophe Gravier. " It gives engineering students a very concrete idea of the applications of the knowledge they learn during their studies. A way for students - in their second year of apprenticeship training, in "Image & Photonics, Smart-Industry" or "Data Engineering" - to put into practice the knowledge they have acquired in the classroom. - to put the knowledge they have acquired into practice in an industrial context.

For SICK, the chair offers privileged access to future engineers with a number of key digital skills. According to the director of Télécom Saint-Étienne, this profile " corresponds to the qualities sought by companies, and is often difficult to recruit ". What's more, the organization intends to take advantage of this collaboration to lift the veil on its day-to-day operations. " Our students are not necessarily very familiar with the digital professions in industry ", Hubert Konik points out. " The Innovation Chair will also enable SICK to give visibility to its activities, and engineering students to discover opportunities they may not have thought of before. "

Case studies and a dive into the heart of industry

To this end, a few months ago, the organization welcomed Télécom Saint-Étienne students for three days at its SICK Academy, a campus in Germany dedicated to the transmission of knowledge. The program included training by company experts, workshops and visits to technology platforms. It's a real immersion in the day-to-day life of a major industrial player for engineering students, who may well find that it's the start of a new vocation.

SICK has also forged closer relationships with certain students, through innovation projects proposed by the company. Two groups worked on these concrete cases and were accompanied for several months by company employees.

More generally, students have access to the full range of industrial development tools, enabling them to test their ideas. Graduates of Télécom Saint-Étienne, now employed by SICK, have also worked at the school to train students in the use of tools such as data acquisition and artificial intelligence systems.

From teaching... to partnership research?

" The Innovation Chair is built around these different types of support, which will mark out the final months of the academic year ", Hubert Konik sums up. " And for the next intake of students, we intend to replicate at least this scheme, adding other events such as business conferences. " The program is constantly evolving, in line with exchanges between Télécom Saint-Étienne and SICK teams.

And the school does not shy away from the idea of closer ties in terms of training. " This Innovation Chair is a clear sign of SICK's and Télécom Saint-Étienne's determination to work together," assures the director of development, innovation and work-study programs. " It's mainly a question of teaching here, but at a later stage, it could very well lead to a partnership research collaboration, as part of a research and innovation project, for example. " An ideal way to extend this telling example of synergy between the academic and industrial worlds.