École Centrale Paris

Ecole Centrale Paris
(Central School of Paris)
Motto Leader, Entrepreneur, Innovateur
Type Public, Grand établissement
Established 1829
President Hervé Biausser
Postgraduates 2,505
(1,789 engineer candidates)[1]
223
Location Châtenay-Malabry, France
Affiliations University of Paris-Saclay, Centrale Graduate School, TIME, CESAER, UniverSud Paris
Website http://www.ecp.fr

Coordinates: 48°45′56.8″N 2°17′18.3″E / 48.765778°N 2.288417°E / 48.765778; 2.288417

École Centrale Paris (ECP, often referred to as Centrale) is a French institute of research and higher education in engineering and science. It is also known by its original name École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. It is one of the leading prestigious French 'Grandes Écoles' in engineering, especially known for its Centralien engineering program.

Founded in 1829, it is among the oldest and most selective grandes écoles in France. Since the 19th century, its specific model of engineering education has inspired the foundation of other schools, such as École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, as well as Faculté Polytechnique de Mons in Belgium.[2]

In 2015, École Centrale Paris merged with Supélec to form CentraleSupélec, a constituent institution of the University of Paris-Saclay.

History

Between 1832 and 1870, the Central School of Arts and Manufactures produced 3,000 engineers, and served as a model for most of the industrialized countries. [....] There is no doubt that in the 1860s France had the best system of higher technical and scientific education in Europe.
— Mathias, Peter; Postan, Michael (1978). The Cambridge Economic History of Europe. Cambridge university press. p. 313. ISBN 9780521215909. 

The École Centrale des Arts et Manufatures was founded in 1829 as a private institution by Alphonse Lavallée, who became its first president, and three scientists who became its founding associates: Eugène Peclet, Jean-Baptiste Dumas, and Théodore Olivier.[3] The founding vision was to train multidisciplinary engineers as the first 'doctors' of the then-emerging industrial sector in France, at a time when most engineering schools trained students for public service.

The school was initially located in various premises in Paris, including Hotel Salé (which now hosts the Picasso Museum) and buildings which now belong to Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.

In 1857, Lavallée transferred the ownership of the school to the French state in order to ensure its sustainability. Under Napoleon's initiative for an imperial university, the school was then temporarily renamed as École Impériale des Arts et Manufactures.

In 1862, graduates of the school were awarded accredited graduate diplomas in engineering, with the official academic title of 'ingénieur des arts et manufactures', which was the first of its kind in France.

The school was transferred in 1969 to a new campus located in Châtenay-Malabry. The Châtenay-Malabry campus was designed by architect Jean Fayeton, and was inaugurated by President Georges Pompidou, who was accompanied on this occasion by Robert Galley. The school was subsequently renamed as École Centrale Paris.

In 2015, École Centrale Paris formed a strategic alliance with Supélec to create CentraleSupélec, which is part of the University of Paris-Saclay. The new campus is located in Gif-sur-Yvette, approximately 20km from the center of Paris.

Partnerships

École Centrale Paris is one of the Centrale Graduate Schools associated as the Groupe Centrale network with its sister institutions (Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Beijing, Hyderabad (with Mahindra Group) and Casablanca).

Since 1837, the school has established international research and education partnerships with several leading universities, such as University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, Harvard, Indian Institutes of Technology, KAIST, Keio, MIT, NTUA, National University of Singapore, RWTH Aachen, Tsinghua University and TU Delft. It was a founding member of the TIME (Top Industrial Managers for Europe) network among leading European engineering schools, and also a member of the UniverSud Paris and the CESAER association of European engineering schools.[4]

Campus

Initially located in the Hôtel de Juigné (now Hôtel Salé and home to the Musée Picasso), the main campus of the school was transferred to rue Montgolfier in 1884, where it stayed until 1969. Its current location neighbours the Parc de Sceaux.

Former location of the École Centrale, rue Montgolfier in Paris (3rd arrondissement):


The school is now located at Châtenay-Malabry, Hauts-de-Seine, a southern suburb of Paris, France (in the Île-de-France region), next to the Parc de Sceaux and its Château de Sceaux. Within the main campus at Châtenay Malabry, ECP hosts eight laboratories:

  1. Molecular and Macroscopic Energy, Combustion[5]
  2. System Analysis and Macroeconomics Modeling[6]
  3. Industrial Engineering[7]
  4. Chemical Engineering and Materials Processing Laboratory[8]
  5. Applied Mathematics[9]
  6. Soil and Structure Mechanics[10]
  7. Technology and Strategy[11]
  8. Solids Structure and Properties[12]

Most of the 2000 students at École Centrale Paris stay in dedicated on-campus student residences, which is located near the research labs and easily accessible via public transport.

Following the merger of the school with Supelec, now forming CentraleSupelec, the progressive move of the campus has started from Chatenay-Malabry to Gif-sur-Yvette.

Admission

Most French students who are admitted to École Centrale Paris have completed 2 to 3 years of post high school education in sciences through the classes préparatoires or prépas, which corresponds to (freshman and sophomore years at US universities. The entrance examination to the grandes écoles including École Centrale Paris is taken at the end of their second year (Mathématiques spéciales).

For its general engineering program leading to the degree Diplôme d'ingénieur, École Centrale Paris recruits among the top 4% of students in classes préparatoires for a quota of about 400 students, as well as about 50 top students from overseas partner universities after a highly selective process each year.[13] A small number of places is also reserved for students who have successfully completed a 3-year undergraduate program in a French university.

Curriculum

The general engineering program at Centrale is multidisciplinary and typically lasts between 3 to 4 years. The curriculum is similar to those offered at other general engineering schools (écoles d'ingénieurs généralistes). All courses are taught in either French or English.

During the first year (Tronc Commun, or Common Core), students are required to study several subjects in science (mathematics, quantum physics, biology…), engineering (continuum mechanics, heat transfer, algorithms, programming…), as well as social sciences (economics, management, foreign languages…). In the second year, students are given the option to choose elective courses but with heavy emphasis in science nevertheless. The first two years are also used to train students in various research, startup and industry projects. In the third year, students can choose to major (specialize) in a particular field depending on their academic and professional interests. Upon graduation, students receive the degree of Diplôme d'Ingénieur (equivalent to Master of Science) along with the title of Ingénieur diplômé, which is more commonly called Ingénieur centralien.

The Graduate School

The school offers a broad range of specialized master's programmes in science and engineering (one-year or two-year programs).[14]

It also offers various Ph.D. programmes for holders of a master's degree. More than 200 doctoral candidates currently work in one of the eight laboratories of the school.

Alumni

Gustave Eiffel, designed the Eiffel Tower and internal structure of the Statue of Liberty in New York

The following is a non-exhaustive list of notable alumni of Ecole Centrale Paris, also commonly known as Centraliens or Pistons, which is a reference to the piston engine as one of the centrepieces of the French industrial revolution.

Name (Year of graduation):

Notable faculty

They include, in alphabetical order:

See also

Notes and references

Wikimedia Commons has media related to École Centrale Paris.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.