Tutored projects
The students carry out projects, which are integrated into their learning at university.
This proactive method of learning is based on the principle that students take responsibility for their own training and development of their own skills.
In other words, they participate directly in their own learning, questioning their environment, researching information, sharing and validating it.
Student engineers in the 2nd and 3rd year, individually or in groups of 2 to 4, carry out a project which is supervised by ENSIL teachers or part-time lecturers (university or professional ones). The project can sometimes be followed with a placement.
It is between 50 and 90 hours long, depending on the chosen course and is included in the schedule. Yet as students are very much involved in this activity, the time they spend is usually much longer. The project can be proposed by a company, particularly in relation with research at ENSIL. Indeed companies don’t hesitate to assign technological studies to ENSIL. The students can also initiate a project, after canvassing companies on a regional or even national scale. Projects are the object of a tripartite partnership: university – student – company or public organisation. The aim of the project is for students to apply their course, with the supervising of both the company and the school.
In the second year, not only must students apply their theoretical and practical learning but also know how to synthesize their studies, work in a team and write a report. The written report and its presentation in front of a jury are assessed.
In the third year, the project is a cross-disciplinary one (technological and financial aspects, management). Students thus learn about the tools, methods and languages that are necessary in a professional environment. They write a report which is presented to a jury and are required to produce results.
Such projects are supposed to answer the companies’ needs of engineers’managerial qualities. Indeed companies cannot afford any more to train their new engineers in management, as they used to until the 1990s. International competition requires them to have operational manager-engineers.
That is why ENSIL makes sure that its students develop such skills.