In early February, 109 students participated in the days dedicated to the collaborative innovation experience. Held online this year, participants focused on the theme “Smart City Low Tech.” The professional jury, chaired by Romain Laffon, VP of Aix-Marseille University, and the cohort’s sponsor, Agnieszka Bruyère, VP of the IBM France Cloud entity, presented awards to two projects.
Smart City Low Tech
The latest edition of the collaborative innovation experience days was held on February 8, 9, and 10. Due to the health situation, the event took place via Immersive Virtual Reality software, a first for the campus. Organized by Mines Saint-Étienne as part of PEPITE PROVENCE, with funding from the Métropole, the event brought together over 110 participants, including 3rd-year students from the ISMIN cycle, students from the Master of Science in Engineering in Innovation Management and Information Systems at AMU, and student entrepreneurs from PEPITE PROVENCE.
During these 3 days, students explored the theme of “Smart City Low Tech,” or how our cities will become smarter, more sober, and therefore more sustainable in the future. Out of 109 proposed projects, 15 were selected during these days, 2 of which received an award.
The Jury Prize: Brieco – recycling cigarette filters to create lightweight, insulating bricks, with a double impact on construction regarding CO2 costs for transport and heating. (Presented by the cohort sponsor)
©Yann Chapus – graphic facilitator
The People’s Choice Award (participants and jury): Flore Artisanale – dry toilets with vermicomposting and short-circuit fertilizer production. (Presented by the jury president)
©Yann Chapus – graphic facilitator
“Giving meaning to innovation…”
This “hackathon” is open to engineering students from the ISMIN cycle at Mines Saint-Étienne, students from the AMU Master of Science in Engineering in Innovation Management and Information Systems, and student-entrepreneurs from the PEPITE hub to develop a collaborative innovation project over three days. Their proposals are then evaluated by a selection committee based on criteria related to inventiveness, originality, realism, and the viability of the proposed solution.
These days offer an innovative pedagogy based on Collective Intelligence and Design Thinking methods that promote collaborative innovation, visual management techniques, agile methods, project presentation techniques (1-minute and 3-minute pitches), and discussions with experts and coaches.
The jury, chaired by Romain Laffon, Vice-President for Socio-Economic Partnerships at Aix-Marseille University, was composed of representatives from our partners (PEPITE, Métropole-economic services, Region, Incubators, Pays d’Aix Développement, Marseille Innovation, AMU, French Tech, Les Entrepreneuriales, SCS Clusters, press representatives, and corporate representatives including the cohort sponsor, Agnieszka Bruyère, Vice-President of the IBM France Cloud entity.
Thank you to all participating students, the facilitators: Olivier Christol (Maieutik & Co), Nathalie Baud (Perspectives & Ressources), Yann Chapus (graphic facilitator), the jury members, and the organizers Thibaut Metailler and Michel Fiocchi (Mines Saint-Étienne), Amandine Pascal and Bénédicte Aldebert (FEG-AMU).
